Al Desmadre here, reporting from Silver Lake, CA. This evening, (Wed. June 10, 2009 at approximately 7:00pm PST) at a public meeting of the SILVER LAKE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION held here in Silver Lake, 4th District City Councilmember Tom LaBonge made a stunning and revealing statement that I believe calls for an L.A. Eastside Extra! AY! Witness News Report!
But first, a little background on Councilmember LaBonge.….
Thomas J. LaBonge born in Silver Lake, Ca., he is a member of the L.A. City Council and represents the 4th district. His district stretches from North Hollywood to Hollywood and Griffith Park and Wilshire Blvd. He is Chairman of the Arts, Parks, Health and Aging committee, Vice Chairman of the Public Works Committee, and member of the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee and the Ad Hoc River Committee for our city. Before he was councilman, Tom LaBonge was Director of Community Relations at the Department of Water and Power, Special Assistant to Mayor Riordan, and Chief Deputy to Council President John Ferraro. Tom LaBonge calls himself the Cheerleader of Los Angeles. His reputation for adding history lessons in City Council meetings is well known. A graduate of John Marshall High School, Tom LaBonge received his Bachelor degree in sociology from Cal State L.A. Some call him “Mr. Los Angeles“. Believe me, this man knows and loves this city like no other.
So, tonight, as Councilmember LaBonge spoke to those of us in attendance describing how a number of Westsiders have been moving into his and Councilmember Garcetti’s 13th District, he was heard to announce;
“By the way, THIS IS NOT THE EASTSIDE!, Silver Lake, Los Feliz,…That is not THE EASTSIDE.”
WOW! HA! HA! Well, you could have knocked me over with one of the empty paper cups from INTELLIGENTRIA Coffee Shop that I find strewn on my lawn every day!!!… So- I couldn’t wait to spill this news here! Requests have been made to Mr. LaBonge to follow up on his statement, and I will add any additional info from him as it becomes available. In the meantime, all of you hipster wannabees in SL/EP/LF calling yourselves eastsiders, can continue to BITE ME! 🙂
More reasons to love Tom! He’s the Huell Howser of the City Council. He may be goofy as all get out, but the guy really does seem to have a good grasp on the reality of things, and doesn’t seem to be driven politically by his own self-promotion like so many others at City Hall.
Someone should send him a thank you note and some “this is not the Eastside” stickers.
Btw, what was the reaction to his statement?
Ay Witness News!
Ay dig it Al!
Ay voy!
Great! Tom LaBonges’ stock just went up in my book.
However, he is no friend of Griffith Park. He wants to develop Grifith park with a Hotel, airlift, parking structures, etc.
http://www.savegriffithpark.org/index.html
Aldesmadre, great job!!
Eastside!- Can’t stop, wont stop.
Watch the downtown yuppies start arguing with him over this, too. He only grew up in LA. What does he know?
HA! Tom LaBonge cracks me up! He’s great!
I really don’t understand this obsession in LA with what people call an area. Eastside, Silver Lake, Echo park whatever it is, i can tell you what it’s probably not, The Westside, and the Westside probably isn’t the Valley and the Valley probably doesn’t include Pasadena . . . wow I’m already bored. WHO CARES! This is an argument I expect fifth graders to have, honestly. Where I’m from minorities worked hard for years to become powerful and successful entrepreneurs, politicians, and decision makers so they could deal with REAL ISSUES in their communities in the only voice that matters these days, money/power. I really hope one day that people in LA will GET IT. Seriously. Stop hating on the newbies coming into your neighborhood and maybe just MAYBE you’ll learn something. Like how to increase your property value, how to run a sucessful business with diverse clientele, how to wrangle the power you need in City hall to create REAL CHANGE. You said the “hipster wannabes” can bite you, but in truth they should slap some sense into you. GET IT TOGETHER.
Sincerely,
Ms. G
While I’m a firm believer that beneath LaBonge’s councilman armor beats the sincere heart of a true angeleno, I also know he’s quite apt at smoke-blowing and talking out of his ass… but then what politician isn’t?
It’s good to hear this from him.
PS. LOVE: “Intelligentria”
Ms. G,
Your arguments are stupid & boring and you’re wasting everyone’s time (especially mine) with your comments.
You should learn how to avoid forums where you have nothing to contribute and no one give a #*! what u say.
Regards,
Mr. D
Mr. D,
in reply to your response to Ms. G: you made me laugh with your childish “argument” So you think Ms. G’s arguement that there are more important issues is “stupid and boring” ? I don’t really agree with Ms. G’s stance of hipsters slapping locals, but I certainly don’t think that means she can’t have a response.
Ms. G, why do you have to go racial, We are talking about communities and economics. Someone should slap you for trying to instigate a racial divide. It is people like you, who we do not want in our neighborhoods, regardless of race.
Good news!! the only problem is, it won’t change much – the people who ‘know’ have always known. The people who don’t know, don’t care.
As for Ms. G, she should go back to where she’s from and stop trying to tell us how we should be running ‘our’ affairs.
Nice of her to bring race into the argument, too – for her information we have many ‘minorities’ who ‘worked hard for years to become powerful and successful entrepreneurs, politicians, and decision makers’
Ummm – ever heard of Antonio Villaraigosa? Gloria Molina?
hahah that’s great Aldesmadre!
I’m not from Los Angeles but I can understand that the issue is about respect.
side note: when i first saw the photo in this post i thought it was Jon Voight
First, Aldesmadre, the truth hurts and if what i said was so boring and stupid you wouldn’t respond. But then again, using big boy language like “know one gives a number sign, star, exclamation point (Really, really) what you say” shows why the Eastside/Eastside debate is so important to you.
Second, Caxcan & justB please explain to me when “minority” became a race. Well, in that case I’m a part of the minority race myself and as a card carrying member it makes me sad to see the state of affairs in Los Angeles.
READ: U CAN DO BETTER!
and justB I pay taxes in LA county and hopefully you do too. So I’ll be happy to give my input, with or without your permission, into any and all of “our” affairs as i see fit. Thanks for offering to pay for my one-way ticket back home though, I’ll keep that in mind for a rainy day 😛
Ms. G
good points ms. g, i am surprised they even put up your comment because if you have a different view here they will pounce on you or never even put it up.there are some good post on this blog and some good people and than there is a large group of poor me chicanos that want to cry over what is the eastside when they don\’t even live there and pull the race card at any chance when there adhere to more seperatist beleafs than most racist.
Mrs. G
If Eastsiders are “obsessed” with keeping the name Eastside east of the river, are the “newbies” in kind “obsessed” with naming downtown the eastside? As long as obsession in and of itself is the problem here…
After all, it wasn’t the east siders who cast the first stone. It was people who moved into downtown Los Angeles and somehow decided it would be a good idea to call it the east side.
You say in your first sentence that you’re “already bored”, yet you go on….much further. You also mock somebody for saying your comments are boring, pointing out that if they ere really bored they wouldn’t read them. You then equate the argument to an argument “5th graders would have”, yet even this harsh observation of this discussion isn’t enough to stop you from jumping into it yourself. You’re actually gentrifying this blog with unabashed hypocrisy.
You say that where you’re from, minorities have worked hard to become successful business people and politicians. Where would this be, and what ethnicity would the minorities be, might I ask? You do realize the history of racism toward Mexican Americans in the southwest region of the country, don’t you?
You then say that money and power are all that matter, anyway. Something tells me that if you really believed that, you wouldn’t take such a strong position on what an area of LA should be named. After all, are you over on blogs where people refer to downtown as the “eastside”, telling them to get over it?
As far as people here learning something from the “newbies”, like increasing property value, if you’ve been reading this blog you’d know that all we’re learning from the newbies so far is how to leave a mess in front of your building. It’s actually the east siders teaching the newbies how to use a broom and dust pan.
Oh, and you mocking “change” by putting it in caps lets us know where you stand on national politics, Mrs G (Gingrich?).
BTW, Mrs. Gingrich, YOU CAN DO BETTER, too. Who are you, Oprah Winfrey?
Too funny! I notice that the right-wing trolls are coming out of the woodwork again to try and harass us now on this “eastside” issue. They can ALL bite me!
ms. G what you are failing to grasp is that your ‘outsider’ boredom with our debate is EXACTLY the kind of attitude that many of the posters on here are railing against.
Rather than move somewhere and accept that they have a history, culture, sense of place and even attitude all their own, you insist on coming there (here, in this case) and trivializing their concerns.
The ability to maintain one’s own identity in the face of outside influences is hardly ‘boring’.
I would pay cash money to see some hipsters cross the river intent on slapping some sense into real Eastsiders.
Edited, but the only whining i read is from ms. g about all the ‘boring’ conversations about place.
Note: abstract thinking skills required to see the bigger picture.
RobThomas
Please take the time to actually read what I’ve written so that you don’t confuse yourself or me with your statements . . .
I said it was an argument fifth graders would have, then changed the subject to what “The Eastside” community, my community, should be focusing on.
I also never said money and power are all that matter, i said they are what get “the powers that be” to pay attention to your issues. Living in LA, that should be obvious to you as well.
Finally, I am from Atlanta. A place where cops don’t pull you over for the crime of being a minority AND driving a nice car because it’s the norm. In business minorities can be found on every rung of the ladder, IF they don’t OWN the whole damn thing. Where, for the most part, minorities know they have to work together to make real change instead of segregating themselves off like they do here. I’m hoping you know the history of racism in the south . . .
BTW, it’s very nice of you to compare me to Oprah Winfrey. Someday, someday 🙂
and *sigh* finally, your conspiracy theories on CHANGE and calling me Mrs. Gingrich are just comedy, pure comedy. If I was Mrs. Gingrich the last thing I would ever want is for the everyday, non-wealthy, LA constituents to actually get a clue, get organized, and make the city do what it’s supposed to do: make sure their communities are clean & safe. C’mon now, T.H.I.N.K.
Just B:
The one constant in life is change. But, I don’t want to change you and that’s not my point. My point is that we could focus our energy on more productive discussions on our community, because truthfully this argument, Eastside/Eastside is something no one can really control. I’m just saying, lets talk about the things we can change to make the neighborhood better and take away from all the tension, instead of adding to it.
Have you ever lived in NYC? People of all different backgrounds hold on FIERCELY to their cultural history and live side by side with each other and fight like hell to make change in their neighborhoods TOGETHER. Newcomers and the old school.
Sure, Mrs. Gingrich. I can see by those confederate flags hanging from government buildings in the south just how much blacks have empowered themselves there. And as far as cops in the South not profiling blacks who drive expensive cars, we’ll have to ask black people in the south about that. Oh, and your far fetched explanation, for your obviously hypocritical view of this discussion I made fun of earlier, was quite boring (not to mention unconvincing), just so you know.
Ms. G is the sort of person who came to my hometown, the City of the Angels, Los Angeles, Californ-i-a, and ruined it. The Eastside is across the dang river, woman.
My roots are deep here. Dad grew up in Little Tokyo, and he and his homies ran the west side of the river. Russian Jewish homies ran the east side. I live in Echo Parkay. The Eastside is east of me.
Ms. G,
What is your relation or obsession with the Eastside of Los Angeles.
We know how to spot provacateurs, and the last time people crossed the river to slap Eastsiders was June of 1943. They wouldn’t dare to try this again.
Naturaly we are, “Lovers not Fighters” but “Don’t Spit on My Corner.”
OMG, Gingrich continues with her insanity by telling us how NY is a hub of ethnic diversity, where people of all different backgrounds work together to fight for a better community. Tell that to black people who grew up near Bensonhurst in the ’80s. I wonder how much longer she can go on proving to us that she knows absolutely nothing.
RobThomas
I bore you because I confuse you. You can’t understand it, and that’s ok. And I’m not speaking for all of the South, I’m speaking on where I’m from, ATL, and so so proud of it. If I bore you so much then please do go to sleep, keep sleeping while people come from other cities, figure out how to work the LA system, mess up your neighborhoods and leave richer. Be my guest, but rember that it’s people like you that make them act like they do, because talking common sense bores you . . . Something to think about. LOL, you’re funny!!!
Caxcan,
My relation/obsession with the Eastside is that I live there and have friends that live there, and know that it could be a better neighborhood if people weren’t so . . . territorial.
Please know that I’m a lover not a fighter as well, my point was more symbolic than anything.
But, you should also know that I’m from the South. If I can stand in the face of 300 pound hog-tying shotgun wielding hicks, nothing east of the river is going to scare me.
Ms. G,
So…you live east of the river?
And, why do you continue to be confrontational?? Unless.. your intentions are to slap around Eastsiders.
Please clarify
Ms. G – As a Westsider (West of the Mississippi) I have no problem with you Eastsiders in Atlanta. LA has a short history compared to Atlanta. Granted they weren’t a central dispersion point for slaves, but they’ve had their own share of sordid scars on their past. Please forgive Rob the Rude. He doesn’t know how to broach a subject w/o going ballistic. Overall I see your comments as well received and in keeping with the high road this blog has sought. Well put.
Al, good shit, as always!
Ms G, I take it that you would be, by your own logic, perfectly sanguine if they started calling “Little Five Points” by the name “East Atlanta Village” to act like they’re somehow “down?” And that would be okay in your book, not really any big deal, right? I’m not judging if it IS okay as far as your concerned, but then I would suggest that you don’t really care where you live, which I guess is also fine. But if you don’t care about the issue, it makes no sense to jump into it.
As stupid as it sounds, perhaps to some, what a place is called and what that means and what it has meant historically does matter to others. And I can tell you from my own past experience, when new people dissolve the names that places have historically held, places can end up seemingly vanishing, losing their identity entirely.
I can’t see that happening to the Eastside, but perhaps in part that would be because the people who have lived here for years are defending the name of the place that they live?
And I still haven’t been hated on for being a “newbie” or anything else in Boyle Heights where I live or anywhere in ELA that I’ve gone in a year of living here so it isn’t a question of anybody “hating newbies” or anything like that! That doesn’t sound like where I live. It seems to me to be a matter of people defending the identity of their communities against know-nothing posers. Such intellectualism! Sacre Bleu! Whatever…
Respect issue, agreed. It’s also about the river itself.
Mrs. Gingrich, you are confusing, I’ll give you that much. But it’s really because you’re wrong about just about everything you say, yet insist you’re right. I know a couple of black people from Atlanta. Believe me, I’m going to run your theory by them that cops in Atlanta don’t make false assumptions about black people driving in nice cars. Sure you don’t want to take this opportunity to recant your delusional claim? Your theory about minorities and ethnic groups in NY working together might be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. NY has had more race riots than LA, and to this day you can cut the tension with a knife in neighborhoods where yuppies are pricing out blacks and Latinos. Gentrification is making NY and LA more alike by the year. I would say you were entertaining, but you’re such a typical, proud gentrification transplant that yes, you did come off as boring. It is what it is.
El Viejo, historical and sociological accuracy in this discussion went out the window long ago. About when Mrs. G arrived, actually.
I’m confused as to why, with all the obvious emotion, this site is called the “LA Eastside†yet covers items from SL, LF and EP, which are not apparently in the Eastside at all.
Dear blankmindfrank,
In your confusion, do you also ever wonder why a paper called “The Los Angeles Times” covers items from all over the planet???
blankfrank, at least this blog doesn’t try to stake claim to areas outside of the East Side, or rename them.
El Pinche Viejo,
Can’t you all just MOVE along??
…And didn’t you promise months ago that you were abandoning this site you hated so much anyway? What happened? Can’t stay away??? You must be the restraining order type! We’ll have to change those locks again!
rob your a white guy from sacremento, how is it your a expert on la, ela, gangs, the south, new york you know better than the people that live there don’t you.
AY!!! Here we go again with the Eastside argument THANG. Why not call the whole area from Boyle Heights to Hollywood –> “EL CENTRO”? Zoom out on that Google map and it all looks like El Centro to me… [Oh yeah, entire communities would lose their “Eastside” identity if we did that. Never mind].
Mi familia’s been in the “el centro/downtown” (Boyle, Echo, Lincoln Heights, Temple, Elysian Valley, etc) area over 100 years now and I really don’t see the point in debating this beyond the fact that arguing like a 5th grader is FUN. [Ms. G is right on that one].
Let’s see what else Tom LaBonge has to say. Happy Friday everyone!
;-P=
Hector, I know more about East LA and NY than people who aren’t from these areas, yet think they know everything about these areas because they’ve lived in security laden fortresses in these areas for all of 6 months. That’s all I’ve proven. And gangs? Where have I ever pretended to be an expert on gangs?
LA Eastside moderators,
In case you’re wondering where the trolls are coming from:
That’s the rat’s nest. I don’t know who these guys are, but they really seem to attack any LA bloggers who have even remotely progressive views, or any kind of ethnic pride. They’re also very defensive of law enforcement in cases of police scandals like MacAruthur park. I’ve asked them if they were cops, they insist they’re not. I don’t know what their deal is but they are an angry, angry bunch and they’re on a mission. And, this blog is on their hit list. They’ve started blogs mocking myself and Don Quixote. Mine is actually funny (hey, I have a sense of humor and can take the heat), but the one mocking DQ is one of the most racist blogs I’ve ever seen, and it’s amazing that google blogger won’t remove it. Maybe if we can get more people to flag it? I’ve flagged it a hundred times. It’s disgusting. Anyhow, just wanted to give you guys some insight as to the source of these trolls that keep coming here. From here on out, I’m going to do my part by not responding to them, since I feel partly responsible for them being here. LOL.
(comment edited: let’s not be linking to whackado sites.)
sorry rob if i offened you but you attacked ms. g and and did not debate just tried to insult her making your point look weak, plus you are white and from sac so how are you a expert on ela?and just because someone dosn’t agree with you dosn’t make them a troll.what is a guy from sac doing here anyway?trolling?
Darrell, love the pronunciation. At first I didn’t understand why you said “parkay”. LOL. I was actually in Echo Parque yesterday (but of course, since I’m from Sacramento, I can’t comment on anything I saw..LOL). Anyhow, it’s a crowded area. I’m sure it’s changed a lot since you’ve grown up there.
Ms. G, maybe a google search of where you are living or planning to live next would give you the skills and language to speak from a place of reality (as RobThomas pointed out). Speaking of the “the south”(!), maybe you can check out: http://www.drumbarracks.org/Original%20Website/California.htm for a petite historical view of Los Angeles.
If we are ‘touchy’ about the culturally world renown history that we (in ELA) have created and contributed to the overall City of Los Angeles, it’s because “whew” it’s been a lot of work and bloodshed. I challenge you to brand your current neighborhood, instead of appropriating ours. Let me know in about 100+ years, how easy that was for you. Afterwards, I will personally defend your right to hold onto your neighborhood branding.
Copying is easy, designing is hard.
Develop Griffith Park? Damn!!! That would be like putting a coal factory in the middle of Yosemite!!While we’re at it, why not put a Mc Donald’s inside the White House????
Will CAMPBELL- You foolishly said,”I would pay cash money to see some hipsters cross the river intent on slapping some sense into the real Eastsiders”.
Do me a favor, I’ll put the money up, as long as YOU are the first one to cross the river!!
I’ll be waiting for your punk/hipster ass!!
I didn’t catch Ms. Gingrich’s comment about “slapping some sense” into East Siders the first time around, probably because I couldn’t stomach her entire comments, and would just respond to the first ridiculous point she made in them. That just reeks of cyber macho mouthing. Which tells me she feels emasculated by East Siders in real life, or, more particularly, is ashamed of her boyfriend’s intimidated behavior around East Siders. Bet you a donut that while they were on a walk or bikeride or whatever, somebody who looked like a neighborhood lifer did something rude to them and her male counterpart didn’t say anything back. First probably came an argument when they got home. Then, it’s time to hit the blogs. And I think that’s what Ms G’s presence here is all about. Am I right, Ms.G?
!@#$%$ Ms. G and whatever she thinks, @#!$% her punk ass companion too, this website IS about the REAL EASTSIDE, all you haters, posers, and pretenders can go to hell!!If you don’t like this web site, go find one about your punk ass “westside” (hope nobody’s trying to take your city’s identity or name,)or else you will really be busy!!)
….heres an exerpt from my poem..
….”posers and pretenders/they should check their genders”/…….