Dear Friend of the Chili Bowl,

Thank you for joining more than 1015 concerned citizens who have signed the petition urging councilmember Mike Bonin to pause the pending demolition permit and help to move L.A.’s last Chili Bowl from its longtime home at 12244 West Pico Boulevard to a safe location within the city of Los Angeles.

Today, the PLUM Committee of Los Angeles City Council re-heard the matter of landmarking the Chili Bowl, in response to the Writ of Mandate filed by the Los Angeles Conservancy over Brown Act violations last time it was on the agenda.

We attended the meeting virtually, and live tweeted the proceedings.

You can listen to the audio from the hearing here.

Sadly, despite some welcome pushback from councilman Gil Cedillo, the others did what they always do and deferred to local councilmember Mike Bonin, who sent a staff member to call for the tiny building NOT to be protected. In the end, the vote was 3-1 to oppose the Cultural Heritage Commission Recommendation to declare the Chili Bowl a landmark. Tomorrow morning it will go to full City Council, where this negative determination will be voted on with no opportunity for additional public comment.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

We only stepped in to create this petition when PLUM violated the law and didn’t call on the Los Angeles Conservancy to advocate for their Chili Bowl landmark nomination in June. As Friends of the Chili Bowl and representatives of the hundreds of people who have signed this petition, we opened a dialogue with the property owner and councilmember Mike Bonin’s office to locate a potential new site for the Chili Bowl to be moved to, and secure restoration funds.

These meetings were encouraging, but unfortunately an agreement could not be reached.

While the Chili Bowl could be moved to safety if Mike Bonin devoted more in the way of staff resources and discretionary funds, he chose not to do so. We’re disappointed that he has failed the community in this way, and that he doesn’t see the value of the only giant Chili Bowl in the City of Los Angeles. Bonin’s opposition to saving a place that matters and that could easily be a win/win solution for blending redevelopment with preservation is simply bad public policy.

We’re sorry we couldn’t get the councilmember on board for the landmark designation, but he could still help fix this mess. Today’s hearing was a disappointment, and tomorrow’s certain vote to reject landmarking isn’t even worth tuning in for. BUT the Chili Bowl is not dead yet. There is no redevelopment project proposed for the site, and we believe that the property owner is still agreeable to letting the Chili Bowl be moved elsewhere. This is just a matter of money and real estate and time.

Maybe you’ve got the perfect spot for a giant Chili Bowl to call home, and are willing to pay to restore it? Call us—we can help!

That’s all the news that fits in a giant Chili Bowl. Please continue to share the petition (http://www.change.org/SaveTheChiliBowl) with friends who love the Chili Bowl and want to see it saved. And stay tuned for additional updates as they happen.

Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim Cooper & Richard Schave
Friends of the Chili Bowl