Traci Park pleading in L.A. City Council Chambers to stop the demolition of Marilyn Monroe’s Brentwood home.
Traci Park showed up in Council in a blonde wig asking The Los Angeles City Council to pass a motion on September 8 to save Marilyn Monroe’s former home from demolition by beginning the process of declaring it a historic cultural monument.
Resident Andrew Halpern wrote:
Dear civic representative who I voted for:
We were so impressed with how you were galvanized into action to save the Monroe House.
NOW HOW ABOUT GETTING TEMESCAL CANYON’S FOREVER LANE CLOSURE DEBACLE FIXED!!!!!!!
This neglect is inexcusable.
Still waiting and watching.
*************************
On August 28, Halpern had sent a letter to Councilmember Traci Park and to Palisades Field Representative Michael Amster about the ongoing issues with Temescal Canyon Road.
Now that Pali Hi and the various neighboring elementary schools are open again the inevitable de-evolution of Palisades society and safety has happened on Temescal Canyon near the PCH due to the City’s continued negligence on this documented major liability. As you already know this ongoing situation has been unresolved for well over a month.
In addition to predicted road rage situations, delays to thousands of commuters and potential for fender benders and accidents with students, pedestrians and bicyclists please now be warned of very real the risk of head on collisions caused by your current non-solution and neglect.
Under your latest failed Temescal Canyon traffic scheme, frustrated downhill facing drivers are driving around the City’s permanent lane closure pinch point onto oncoming speeding uphill facing traffic.
To be clear, now by practice, cars are deliberately crossing two rows of double yellow lines at the risk of life and limb just so they can get to where they are going.
Local journalist Sue Pascoe recently advised that your office has gotten approval for funding the repairs . . . and with that update, perhaps on your behalf, she has suggested that we be patient. Based upon the City’s past neglect, contempt and blatant disregard for our health and safety I am not, and neither are my neighbors feeling very trusting or patient. Let’s go!
There really can be no excuse for not fixing this ongoing, well documented, City created, prior to the recent rain-related, hazardous situation, by now. It should be fixed yesterday, if not tomorrow. And obviously, it bears pointing out, correctly, the third time.
I anticipate your response will be equally quick, cordial and sadly I fear, as meaningless as they proved to be before.
Halpern than asked, “If you can’t fix a hole in a road, how can we hope that you are the right people to deal with the City’s more complex and serious problems?”
(Michael Amster responded August 28, “Thank you for contacting the Office of Councilwoman Traci Park. It is my pleasure to share the latest update on the ongoing challenges and repairs at Temescal Canyon Road.
“The road was resurfaced in November and again in April, at that time the Bureau of Street Services noticed a baseline failure and asked the Bureau of Engineering (BOE) to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the road and its need. The Bureau of Engineering has prepared a mitigation plan with an estimated cost of $800,000 to address the existing problems and fortify the roadway against future damage. Funding, however, must be identified.
“On August 11th, Councilwoman Traci Park introduced a motion, asking the City Administrative Officer to identify $800,000 to implement the Bureau of Engineering’s mitigation plan for Temescal Canyon Road to address water seepage and roadway damage along its southbound lane between Pacific Coast Highway and West Bowdoin Street. On August 25th, the motion passed the City Council.
“Additionally, the Department of Transportation conducted an emergency restriping job to mitigate the roadway conditions, as the deterioration was affecting the protected bike lane and posing a significant risk to riders. We are confident the recent reconfiguration will allow the road to remain open and accessible, and we’re in constant communication with neighbors and our department personnel to communicate any sudden changes that may happen to the road.
“Thank you for your understanding and patience throughout this process, as we receive further information on the funding and repairs, we will continue to communicate this to our constituents. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.”)
One of the most precious things on our planet, soon to become desperately more precious, natural spring water, is here considered a nuisance to an important roadway and must be engineered to dispatch itself to the sea or otherwise be made to go away. Think of how the once pristine Temescal Canyon once supported wildlife with its marsh fed by this spring. I find it horribly ironic, or sad or poignant or something along those lines, that we don’t value the precious things the earth gives us to support life. Here is rare fresh water.
My house backs up to the Rustic Canyon Creek and I heard from workers there yesterday repairing a fence, that there are plans to cement the creek within 10 years. The plans are already drawn up he told me. What folly how we turn our heads away from nature in order to preserve our property values, or roadways. A riparian corridor like my creek becomes a flood channel. A natural spring is diverted into a storm drain. We have lost our sacred connection to nature. We no longer see it. We won’t survive this way.
This letter is really comparing apples and oranges. Saving a historic home and repairing Temescal Canyon are two different issues. I’m certain that Ms. Parks can chew gum and walk and it’s rather insulting to insinuate that she is championing one project over another. The over building in the Palisades and surrounding areas such as Rustic Canyon are issues that should be a focus of everyone living in the area. Not only can we not bring back a historic home which is slated to be demolished to built no doubt another senseless overbuilt mega mansion, it also contributes to the sustained march toward individual desires over the greater good, the natural world around us, the neighborhoods at large, etc. Let’s not demonize our elected officials and be supportive of what they are doing to move us all forward, project by project. She is a far cry better than Bonin.