Martin Luther King Rally brings Venice together to support Lincoln
Place
About 350 people turned out on the Martin Luther
King Holiday, Jan. 16, at an outdoor rally to support the tenants at Lincoln
Place Apartments.
Many of the tenants have already been
evicted and 83 households of seniors and the disabled are facing eviction March
21 until something prevents it.
There
are 696 apartments at Lincoln Place that are not available for low and middle
income tenants because the corporate landlord, AIMCO (Apartment Investment and
Management Corporation) refused to offer them for
rent.
Speakers at the rally included
most of the leaders of Venice community organizations. They pledged their
support for the tenants and buildings, which AIMCO wants to tear down and
replace with luxury
condominiums.
Various solutions were
offered including declaring eminent domain to save the housing and return the
evictees, a moratorium on condo development, city historical status (Lincoln
Place already has state historical protection) and changing the Ellis Act which
allows landlords to go out of the rental
business.
Speakers at the Rally
included:
Bill Rosendahl, L.A. City
Councilmember
Pastor Marvis Davis, Jr. - New
Bethel Church
Pastor Tom Zeigert - Venice
United Methodist Church
Robert Greenwald -
Brave New Films
Lincoln Place Tenants: Karen
Dreyfus, Sheila Bernard, Lucy
Siam, Rose
Mary Murphy, Freida Marlin, Maria
Colores
Oscar Howard - 2nd Community Baptist
Church
Stan Mohammad - Venice 2000 &
GRVNC
Sophia Soil - Holiday Venice
tenant
Steve Clare - Venice Community Housing
Corp.
Gwen Gorg - Led fight to integrate
Lincoln Place
Judy Baca -
SPARC
Billy Harris -
performer
Maureen Cotter and tenants of
1101-1109 Venice Blvd.
Francisco Letelier -
Artist and activist
Emily Winters - Chair,
Venice Arts Council
Chris Gabriel -
POWER
Jataun Valentine - Oakwood
Seniors
Rev. Sherwood Fleming - Venice
Neighborhood Action
Committee - (reciting
“I have a dream” speech)
Karl
Abrams - Venice Peace and Freedom Party
Laura
Silagi and David Ewing - Venice Community
Coalition
Elena Popp - Eviction Defense
Network and tenants’ attorney
David
Busch - Homeless Activist & Tent City Coordinator
Performers: Eric Ahlberg and The Shueflies;
Alfred Johnson &
Suzy Williams; Dennis
Wilson - Electric Brown Band
MCs - Amanda
Seward and Jim Smith
180 keys
representing the evicted tenants
Hanging in a evergreen tree at
Lincoln Place Tent City (California Avenue, east of Lincoln Blvd.) is a vivid
reminder of the 180 residents who have lost their homes through
eviction.
Created by Linda Young and
Kevin Krell, the keys were hung during the holiday season. Tenants were evicted
in the early morning hours of Dec. 6 by Sheriffs, Marshalls and LAPD acting on
behalf of the landlord, AIMCO.
Since
then, a symbolic tent city has been established next to Lincoln Place to provide
a place for tenants and supporters to meet and is a living reminder of their
continuing fight for justice.
The keys
are made of packing material, representing the fact that the tenants have had to
pack up all of their possessions and put them into storage while searching for
elusive and rapidly vanishing affordable housing.
Posted: Wed - February 1, 2006 at 01:25 PM