GARDENERS END WEEK OF FASTING; PROTEST ENDS WHEN OFFICIALS OK HEARINGS ON LEAF BLOWERS.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer A group of gardeners ended a seven-day hunger strike hunger strike, refusal to eat as a protest against existing conditions. Although most often used by prisoners, others have also employed it. For example, Mohandas Gandhi in India and Cesar Chavez in California fasted as religious penance during otherwise political or Friday after receiving written assurances from three Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. members that public hearings will be held this month on issues raised by the new ban on gas-powered leaf blowers A leaf blower is gardening tool that propels air out of a nozzle to move yard debris such as leaves. Leaf blowers are usually powered by two-stroke engine or an electric motor, but four-stroke engines were recently introduced to partially address air pollution concerns. . Council members Mike Hernandez, Cindy Miscikowski Cindy Miscikowski represented the 11th District on the Los Angeles City Council for two full terms from 1997 through 2005. Previously, she was an aide to Councilman Marvin Braude and the Executive Director of the Skitball Cultural Center in its beginning stages. and Jackie Goldberg Jackie Goldberg (born June 16, 1937) is an American politician and teacher, and a member of the Democratic Party. She is a former member of the California State Assembly. - all clad in business suits - finalized the agreement sitting with the scruffy scruff·y adj. scruff·i·er, scruff·i·est 1. Shabby; untidy. 2. Chiefly British Scaly; scabby. [From obsolete scruff, scurf, variant of and tired hunger strikers inside a tarp-covered tent pounded by rain on the muddy south lawn of City Hall. Outside, 300 gardeners and supporters waited under umbrellas. What emerged was far less than what 11 members of the Association of Latin American Gardeners hoped for when they began a liquids-only fast Jan. 3. They had hoped to convince city officials to reject a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers. However, the City Council voted Tuesday to enforce the ban with a $270 fine and Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. signed the ordinance Thursday, setting the stage for enforcement to begin in about 30 days. To end the hunger strike, Goldberg, who had supported the ban, signed a letter with Hernandez agreeing to initiate public hearings within two weeks to determine whether advances in technology might make electric blowers more effective for gardeners, or help make gas blowers become quieter and less polluting pol·lute tr.v. pol·lut·ed, pol·lut·ing, pol·lutes 1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter. See Synonyms at contaminate. 2. . ``If positive results of these hearings are realized, we would consider changing the current ordinance,'' Hernandez and Goldberg wrote. Miscikowski, a leading proponent One who offers or proposes. A proponent is a person who comes forward with an a item or an idea. A proponent supports an issue or advocates a cause, such as a proponent of a will. PROPONENT, eccl. law. of the ban, signed a separate letter promising hearings to look at alternative technology but not opening the door at all to revisiting the ban on gas-powered blowers. The councilwoman said she is adamantly opposed to anything that would allow gas-powered leaf blowers to be used in the city's residential neighborhoods. ``I believe the new ordinance should be allowed to take effect, and in the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile I will commit to an aggressive pursuit of new technologies and financial solutions,'' Miscikowski said. She said electric blowers, possibly developed with assistance from the Department of Water and Power, could be the answer, but the gardeners say the current electric blowers do not have the battery capacity to work for them. Adrian Alvarez, a leader of the gardeners association and one of the hunger strikers, said he is prepared to go back on strike unless the City Council changes the ordinance, after the hearings, to allow gardeners a reasonable use of gas-powered blowers while new technology is developed. Hernandez said hearings would begin within two weeks and provide a ``prompt response'' to the concerns of the gardeners. Alvarez said he hopes to use the 30 days before the ordinance goes into effect to win a change in the ban. ``We initiated a democratic dialogue. That's what we wanted. If they go back on their word and they take us for granted, we're going to come back and continue the hunger strike and this time get an ordinance that we've been asking for,'' Alvarez said. Despite the offer of Riordan to provide the strikers with a free meal at The Original Pantry restaurant, which the mayor owns, Alvarez said he and other strikers planned to go to someone's house for some soup to break their fast. Terry Jones, a North Hills gardener and hunger-striker, said he was glad the fast was over and he hoped something will come out of it. ``We got some conditions that we asked for so, we're definitely going to end the hunger strike. We feel good about what we got,'' said Jones, who said he felt weak, but fine. The council members also agreed to look at whether the city can provide gardeners with loans to buy leaf-blowers operating with new, quieter technology. |
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