Jan. 7, 2005

A Year of Living Dangerously in San Pedro—2004
The Stories Impacting San Pedro and the World Took One More Turn
By Rod Sanborn, Community Reporter

     Random Lengths News looks back on 2004 somewhat pensively, not only because of fond memories and significant triumphs, but because so much progress still needs to be made, and because so many opportunities have been lost.
     Long before January 2004, Random Lengths began following the progress of the Promenade as it moved through its seemingly endless labyrinth of phases. Just as underlying differences yet to be resolved were apparent in December 2003, even one year later, many of the same struggles are apparent, although great strides have been made, primarily due to the eternal vigilance of those on the Port Community Advisory Committee and thousands of San Pedro and other Harbor residents.
     Progress continues on the Promenade, as the “Bridge-To-Breakwater Plan” was approved, less than two weeks after Larry Keller, the Port Of Los Angeles’ Executive Director, announced his resignation. Gone were the plans to relocate San Pedro’s monuments and the plans to line Harbor Boulevard with high-rise buildings. Yet, shortly afterwards, Keller re-appeared, like the proverbial bad penny, as a $180,000 per year marketing consultant [Bad Penny, RLN Oct. 20-Nov. 11, 2004]. City Council rejection of his contract has not killed talk of devising a new one for him.
     Nonetheless, development in downtown San Pedro has moved forward as the gap in the heart of downtown that was the vacant lot at Seventh and Centre Streets finally saw groundbreaking for the $38 million, 116-unit Centre Street Lofts Project, the first market-rate housing project in San Pedro for decades.
     Also, the Sportswalk, after being “on vacation” for six years, has been newly named and reestablished, honoring Pat Tillman, who left the NFL to serve in Afghanistan where he was killed by friendly fire, and other athletes who have made indelible marks during their careers. The ever-supportive and enthusiastic Councilwoman Janice Hahn was on hand to spotlight the Sportswalk’s contributing effort to “expand and return the waterfront to the people of San Pedro and Los Angeles so we might enjoy it.”
     In Long Beach, the Pier J Expansion Environmental Impact Report was rejected and returned for complete revision after environmentalists and local residents confronted the Long Beach City Council, arguing that the Port should do more to clean up pollution before being allowed to expand.
     Unfortunately, not everything is so rosy. The UCLA Institute of the Environment, in its seventh annual Southern California Environmental Report Card, stated that, “as a region we have yet to come to grips with the immense impacts our transportation system is having on the environment and public health” and that “we’re still not in very good shape. Our number of unhealthy air quality days is 88—down dramatically from 137 days in 1993, but still four times the number of New York’s…and 35 days more than Houston…” [UCLA Environmental Report Card Gets an Incomplete, RLN, Nov. 12-25, 2004]
     On the last possible day of the 2004 legislative term, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB-2042, Assemblymember Alan Lowenthal’s measure to cap air pollution produced by the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, smearing it as a “job killer”—a catch-all phrase for anything big business special interests don’t like. [Governor Vetoes No-Net Increase Bill, RLN, Oct. 15-28, 2004]. At the same time, however, Mayor Hahn’s “No-Net Increase” Taskforce has made encouraging, if not difficult progress, after the original “No-Net Increase” plan was widely condemned. There may be hope yet for more breathable air in the Harbor Area. But first is the struggle to stop it from becoming worse.
     The Long Beach Peace Network fought back in Federal court, winning an injunction against a July Small Claims ruling that makes the individuals involved in the antiwar rally in the spring of 2003 responsible for over $7,000 in permit fees and court costs. Peaceful protest still lives on, as local groups like ECO-Link, the Gray Panthers, and the Long Beach Area Peace Network continue their grassroots efforts. Also, in December, the United Teachers of Los Angeles walked out of a budget briefing with Superintendent Roy Romer over doubts that he is actually negotiating in good faith regarding their budget concerns.
     As the 2004 Presidential Election slogged on, the good news was that John Kerry clearly “KO’d” George Bush in the debates, as Kerry seemed “strong on all the issues…Bush looked totally distracted and nonchalant, repeating himself over and over.” [Kerry KO’s Bush in Debates, RLN, October 125-228, 2004]. Just one year ago, David Corn, The Nation magazine’s Washington editor, spoke in Long Beach about his book, The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception. Corn’s old-fashioned investigative reporting challenged Bush’s claims about tax cuts, energy policies, global warming, stem cell research, missile defense, forewarnings of 9/11, the invasion of Afghanistan, his relationship with Ken Lay, and the invasion of Iraq. Bush’s entire career could be covered, Corn showed, just by looking at his lies.
     The bad news, unfortunately, was that none of this seemed to make enough of a difference.
     The jury is still out on whether the 2004 Presidential election was a more sophisticated election theft than that in 2000, or whether it indicates a new 21st century system of disenfranchisement, combining the 19th century exclusion of felons with an array of other barriers, many of which may seem trivial to those viewing them from afar. [RLN, Nov. 12-15, “A Hacked Election?] What no difference a year makes—or four years.
     Sadly, hunger and homelessness continued to rise in major American cities during 2004. Overall requests for emergency food assistance increased by an average of 14 percent over the past year, with unemployment and other employment-related problems leading the list of causes of hunger. Other causes contributing to hunger, in order of frequency, include low-paying jobs, high housing costs, poverty or lack of income, medical or health costs, substance abuse, high utility costs, mental health problems, homelessness, reduced public benefits and high childcare costs. [http://www.citymayors.com/features/uscity_poverty.html.]
     Fortunately for the Harbor Area, organizations such as Harbor Interfaith Shelter and the Harbor Free Clinic are still serving nearly 20,000 homeless each year, although both groups are struggling to find and maintain funding as state and federal sources dry up. [Fighting Homelessness the Right Way, With Clear Purpose and Public Support, RLN, December 3-9 2004]
     Meanwhile, 1,333 US servicepeople had died by the end of 2004, up sharply from 486 in January of 2004. The number of civilian contractors killed remains undocumented, while the mainstream media continues to overlook the grievous wounds received by those in the military. According to a scientific survey conducted by researchers at John Hopkins University, the “collateral damage” done to innocent Iraqi children, women and men now stands at over 100,000, while the cost of the war is shrouded in obfuscation. Conservative estimates of $1.1 billion per week equate five hours of war to the initial $35 million offer of relief after the Christmas weekend tsunami. Current US pledges of $350 million equal just over two days cost of occupying Iraq.
     The military now asserts a new vindictiveness not shown to President Bush when he was AWOL in 1972-73: witness the case of Corporal Wassel Ali Hassoun and others, [Bush’s AWOL Files, by Paul Rosenberg, RLN, February 20, 2004]. Even the mainstream media has been forced to knuckle under to the Administration juggernaut— Dan Rather has left CBS, under the cloud of allegedly unauthentic documents related to President Bush’s service. Tom Brokaw is retiring too—perhaps Rush Limbaugh will be brought on as a news anchor?
     Stop-loss orders continue to forbid our military from leaving the service as provided for in their original contracts. Even Vietnam Veterans have been recalled to active duty. President Bush and his Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld continue to send more troops into the field of battle. And torture has been redefined, as the advocate of US torture policy, Alberto Gonzales, has been nominated to replace John Ashcroft as America’s top law enforcement official. Flag-covered coffins are still off limits for media cameras. As of July, 2004, nearly 28,000 veterans from Iraq sought health care from the VA. Los Angeles has an estimated 27,000 homeless veterans, the largest in the nation. [UPI)]
     So many questions, so few answers. We can only continue to question the actions of government at all levels and resist efforts to turn back the clock to a time and philosophy that brought our parents and grandparents the Great Depression.
     Every other week, readers can expect to find RLN focusing in with laser-like precision on issues not covered by network or local TV news, or by corporately-owned local print media. Like the wires in the anchor cables that secure the ships waiting out at sea to be unloaded at the Port, Random Lengths News covers these issues, anchoring the community by staying true to its principles while reporting the events that directly affect residents of the Harbor Area.