Dear fellow LACMA Lover,
Thank you for joining more than 3980 concerned citizens who have signed the petition urging the Los Angeles County Supervisors to reconsider their approval of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for LACMA's redevelopment plan.
We subscribe to the agendas of Los Angeles government, because you never know when they’ll try to push something bad through.
Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, lame duck CD4 councilmember David Ryu made a stealthy verbal motion to grant LACMA access to the public air rights over Wilshire—something the museum already was given last December. We were there on 12/3/19 to testify against giving public airspace away, and to chide museum director Michael Govan for his bad ideas, to no avail. (It felt really good to chide Govan, though.)
So why is LACMA coming back to City Council, hat in hand? Apparently there are site improvements and other conditions that the museum has failed to meet. Now they need a revocable permit if they’re going to finish demolishing the historic campus, and begin construction of a new museum building that is too small to serve the institution.
But just because LACMA and County leadership have been steering the museum off a cliff doesn’t mean it’s too late for someone in power to slam on the brakes.
David Ryu lost his race to represent the citizens of CD4, and in days he will be replaced by reform candidate Nithya Raman. We strongly believe that Ms. Raman, elected by Angelenos in a referendum against City Hall corruption, should have an opportunity to consider LACMA’s request, and weigh it against the widespread popular opposition to the project, and the very serious fiscal concerns.
And YOU can help, by sending a short comment TODAY (or first thing in the morning on Tuesday). City Council will hear this matter at their 10am meeting on Tuesday, 12/1.
Please make a written public comment asking City Council not to vote on, or vote for, lame duck David Ryu’s LACMA motion, but to wait for Nithya Raman to be seated before considering the matter.
To comment, click the button that says “NEW” in the center of the page.
A sample comment is below:
Dear Los Angeles City Council,
I oppose City Council taking a vote on December 1, 2020 on Councilmember David Ryu’s motion for a street vacation granting air rights over Wilshire Boulevard for LACMA’s new building, before Councilmember Nithya Raman takes office on December 14, 2020.
This matter is too important to the citizens of Los Angeles and CD4 to be decided before their newly elected representative can have her say.
If you insist on voting on December 1, I urge you to vote against this giveaway of public space for a project that the vast majority of Angelenos and critics oppose. LACMA’s proposed building is too small and too expensive, and the L.A. Times reports that fundraising has stalled as projected costs balloon.
Please be the voice of reason and help protect the precious public resources that are LACMA and the beautiful Miracle Mile.
sincerely, (your name, your address or Council district, your email)
PLEASE NOTE: Uniquely personal remarks, even just a line or two, really make a difference. Please consider adding this sentence and filling in the blank: LACMA is important to me because ____________.
Sending a written comment is recommended, since it is hard to get through to make telephone public comment at City Council. But if you wish, you can call in after 10am on Tuesday, December 1. Dial 1 669 254 5252 and use Meeting ID No. 160 535 8466 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. Once admitted into the meeting, press *9 to request to speak. You will be waiting for agenda item 36.
Please keep sharing the petition link (http://chng.it/PBQw6hhzdX) with your friends who love LACMA and want it to remain at the heart of our city's culture and community. And stay tuned for updates as we have them.
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim Cooper & Richard Schave
The LACMA Lovers League