April 1st Page: Venice City Council Declares Eminent Domain at Lincoln
Place
April 1, 2007 – In a rare show of unity,
the Venice City Council voted 10-0, today, to declare eminent domain at Lincoln
Place. Mayor Bill Rosendahl signed the ordinance a few minutes
later.
The ordinance will protect all 700 units at
Lincoln Place and will allow tenants to return, and more Venetians to find homes
in the 60-year-old complex.
As the
vote was taken in front of a packed audience at the Venice amphitheater at
Independence Park, Main St. and Sunset Avenue, Dr. John Michel exclaimed,
“that’s what I’m talkin about.” Others cheered and a car
caravan honked its way throughout Venice for the next several hours, as Venice
Peacekeepers looked on.
In a hastily
called press conference and signing ceremony, Mayor Rosendahl said it gave him
great pleasure to actually accomplish something in city government. “When
I think about how this action will benefit hundreds of families, I get a warm
and fuzzy feeling inside,” said the former L.A. City Councilmember turned
Mayor of California’s newest
city.
Venice City Attorney Amanda
Seward said rents would begin at $500 per month for a one-bedroom and $800 a
month for a two-bedroom apartment. Venice’s new, strong rent control law
will limit rent increases to 3 percent a year or less. Seward said those who had
been forced out by the former owner, the AIMCO corporation, would receive the
first apartments. After that, evictees from other apartments in Venice would be
able to claim a home at Lincoln Place.
Plans are underway to covert at least
part of Lincoln Place to a cooperatively-owned complex, in which tenants, as a
group, will own and run the historical garden
apartments.
AIMCO president Terry
Considine also held a press conference on April 1. He said that God had spoken
to him harshly about the evictions at Lincoln Place and challenged him to change
his ways if he wanted to enter
Heaven.
As a result, Considine said he
was going to charge the city of Venice only 50 percent of the value of Lincoln
Place. This still amounts to a hefty $50 million which the city expects to get
from a combination of state, federal and nonprofit grants, as well as from a new
tax on exorbitant rents in the city.
More news at Free Venice TV, Ch.
8
Posted: Sat
- April 1, 2006 at 09:29 AM