FEBRUARY 2, 2024
On January 9, 2024, the LANCSA voted to oppose the Dodger Stadium gondola. You can read our letter here. (We have since learned that apparently we, among many others, used the name Chavez Ravine in error. The canyons from which people were displaced were Bishop, La Loma, and Palo Verde.)
You can check out the recording of our transportation committee meeting focused on the subject at our YouTube channel here.
We had been expecting the Metro board to vote on the issue January 25, but a few days before the meeting Supervisor Hilda Solis pulled the item from the draft agenda.
Then, on January 24, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez introduced a motion (in Council File 24-0011-S4) asking City Council to put a pause on the project until other options have been adequately studied. (We agree!!!!!)
Now we need Mayor Karen Bass, who chairs the Metro board, to stand with us.
Our city leaders need to hear from you RIGHT NOW. To learn what you can do to help via phone calls and emails, please check out this link.
More information about the project is at metro.net/projects/aerial-rapid-transit.
More information about the opposition is at stopthegondola.org.
And this is an excellent op-ed.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 20, 2024
On February 14, Councilmember Hernandez asked the Metro Board's Planning and Programming Committee to vote against the gondola. Instead, they forwarded the item with no recommendation.
For this Thursday's Metro Board meeting, Supervisor Solis (who represents the area), along with Mayor Bass (who chairs the Board) and others introduced a motion with a long list of conditions that are eliciting a LOT of reactions. Check out the list—item 12.1 in the agenda. Items 12 and 12.1 on the Metro Board agenda are about the gondola.
Stop the Gondola says it well: The problem is that these conditions are not a binding agreement. They are vague, and lack specifics, deadlines, and penalties. In the future, the conditions can be changed at any time with a Metro board vote, while the EIR would stay certified with all of its flaws and unanswered questions. Community benefit agreements should also be negotiated with the community, not forced on us at the last minute without any prior discussion about the terms of the agreement.
So, again, we are asking everyone to send emails and letters, to make phone calls, and, most importantly, to show up Thursday morning, in-person if possible, by phone if not. More information is at stopthegondola.org/public-comment.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 24, 2024
We lost this round, and not due to a lack of vocal opposition. Learn more here (and just about anywhere, really—this vote was heavily covered! The LANCSA got some coverage, too).
The next steps, as we understand them, are:
City Council (specifically, Councilmember Hernandez's motion in Council File 24-0011-S4
So, please FILE YOUR CISs ASAP!!!!!!!!!!
(Also, City Council needs to approve the gondola.)
and
a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Parks Alliance under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
AND MORE
This is what the Lincoln Heights NC had to say.
UPDATE APRIL 3, 2024
City Council passed Hernandez's (amended) motion (in Council File 24-0011-S4)! Councilmembers Lee and McOsker opposed it.
We are still asking neighborhood councils to submit CISs using this council file—maybe more generally sharing your thoughts on the gondola.
City Council will later need to approve (or not) the gondola, and the CIS you submit now could be used for that council file.
Thank you!!
Updated April 3, 2024
Do you like this page?