'How can they buy my American dream?'
By Doris Benavides for the Tidings
Maywood residents say they will cede no ground to the proposed construction of a high school that will end decades of home ownership, even though school district authorities argue the project is an overall effort to relieve overcrowding at Los Angeles schools, benefitting the unincorporated city and surrounding communities.
Residents maintain that demolition of 112 units --- including single-family homes, multi-family and commercial units and parking lots - will also destroy the American dream of mostly immigrant Latino families who have an emotional attachment to the properties they purchased through many years of hard work and sacrifice.
In order to find solutions to the L.A. Unified School District's decision to build a second high school in the one-mile-square city, homeowners in the block bounded by Slauson Avenue, 58th Street, King and Mayflower have held weekly meetings since March. Participants have included local community and religious leaders, some council members and Mayor Veronica Guardado, formerly a confirmation teacher at St. Rose of Lima Church in Maywood.
Maywood, part of LAUSD, has joined the South East Cities School Coalition with South Gate, Huntington Park and Bell in an effort to improve children's education in Los Angeles' southeast area. Several council members from each city are part of the coalition.
More than 80 percent of Maywood's residents are Catholic and are being supported by the pastor and parishioners of St. Rose of Lima.
"We will continue to support the poor," Father David Velázquez, St. Rose of Lima pastor for the last four years, told The Tidings in a phone interview. "Their houses are like a trophy they've won for having worked so hard all their lives. If they lose their homes they won't know where to go. It will be a really tragic and uncertain future."
Jesús Saldaña echoed Father Velázquez's concerns.
"I just want them to let me die here," the 89-year-old retired carpenter and construction worker told The Tidings after a July 22 meeting held by homeowners who are facing the demolition of their homes. Saldaña still lives with his wife and a son in the house he purchased on 57th Street 40 years ago, where he and his wife raised their 10 children.
"How can they buy my American dream?" asked Humberto Herrera, who bought his home on 57th street 37 years ago.
"I have sacrificed too much for this property," he said. The house has a sentimental value to him. "Each brick has my sweat on them as well as my wife's, because both of us have done repairs and additions to the house."
"On this street the people have said 'Enough!'" activist Héctor Alvarado, leader of community group Padres Unidos de Maywood (PUMA) told more than 40 homeowners.
"It's possible that they get us out of here, but it's going to be a long and very difficult battle," he promised during the July 22 meeting to finalize planning details of a fundraiser the residents held during the weekend in preparation for a legal battle the community might pursue if LAUSD moves forward with construction plans.
A week before, all the targeted homes were blessed by Father Velázquez after the owners gathered for a prayerful reflection.
'Painful process'
"I am aware this is a painful process," said Yolie Flores Aguilar, LAUSD's board of education vice-president, "but we will compensate the residents for their sacrifice."
Flores, who chairs the board of education's facilities committee, said the compensation will be made according to property assessments and will include moving expenses for homeowners, and six months worth of rent for occupants.
She added that before choosing the polemic site, LAUSD had selected three other sites, including two suggested by PUMA, but environmental testing showed high contamination at one, and safety hazards at the other two, caused by heavy truck traffic and location in heavy industrial areas, according to a document provided by the district to The Tidings.
"We have always been inclusive of residents and ideas," Flores said, acknowledging the LAUSD is under "time pressure." She said a decision needs to be made soon; otherwise the funds will be assigned to another district.
"This school should have been built by 2012, but now it won't be ready until 2014," she said.
She said the district has been assigned funds to build 120 schools through 2012 to relieve overpopulation in county schools. Many schools built to enroll 2,000 students today have an enrollment of 4,000. About 70 new schools have been built so far.
"If residents file a lawsuit," Flores said, "the community will lose its opportunity to have a school probably for the next 10 years."
Academy problems
About four years ago, several houses were demolished a few miles away from 57th Street to build Maywood Academy, a public high school on Pine Avenue that opened in the fall of 2006. Residents were told the high school would give preference to local students, but residents say they feel betrayed because most of the students hail from the surrounding cities and academic achievement is low.
"Of the 1,200 student capacity, about 500 are from Maywood and the other 700 are outsiders," said Leonardo Vilchis, a leader with [Union de Vecinos].
The activist said the school's retention rates are low. "More than 40 percent of the students drop off after the first couple of years," he noted.
Flores admitted the school has fallen short in meeting the community's needs and in its academic impact.
"I understand why the residents feel betrayed," Flores said. "I don't like it either. We have been failing our children for decades and this is why there is an urgency to improve our schools and open more schools using eminent domain for the greater good of the public."
She said voters have given the district a power to build schools in residential areas through the right of eminent domain, "but we don't use this power lightly; we treat people with respect and sensibility."
Maywood is the third-smallest incorporated city in Los Angeles County, slightly larger than Cudahy and Hawaiian Gardens. In January, the city's population was about 29,984, according to the California Department of Finance.
About one third of its residents work in the factories at nearby Vernon and Commerce, earning an average annual income of $15,000-$34,999. The city has two private schools, Maywood Christian School (K-12), and St. Rose of Lima School (K-8), plus four public elementary schools.
Land evaluation pending
The LAUSD document provided to The Tidings points out that the controversial site was chosen for its central location. A health assessment found "no significant risks," the document said, although a phase 1 environmental evaluation showed "routine lead-based paint and pesticide impacts, and some properties still require further investigation."
Most of the houses were built in the 1940s and 1950s when there were no laws prohibiting asbestos, lead-based paint and pesticides, said Roderick Hamilton, LAUSD's regional development manager.
More than a dozen current owners have already authorized property evaluation. Testing is pending on several auto body shops and a gasoline station in the area.
After an "intrusive testing" to analyze the impact on top and underneath the land, environmental authorities evaluate the cost of getting rid of the contaminants that are found. Authorities expect the costs will be minimal.
According to Hamilton, results of the studies will be submitted to the board of education sometime next spring. If approved, the board will begin the process of residents' relocation and new home acquisitions that could take a year.
If the affected parties do not reach agreement through negotiations after appraisals are done, the board of education will refer the cases to a court to determine the property value.
Aside from moving expenses, renters will be helped in finding comparable affordable houses. If the rent is higher, they will be paid the difference for 42 months.
"The process is difficult," Hamilton conceded, "but we will work with the owners, tenants and occupants in order to provide them all the benefits."
Unless the land testing results are negative, construction work on the new school could start as early as 2011.
News
Friday, July 31st, 2009
