THE END FOR SOUTH CENTRAL FARM?Byline: BRENT HOPKINS Staff Writer Not legal challenges, not folk singers' entreaties, not even a last-minute infusion of $10 million could save the South Central Farm. Sheriff's deputies moved in before dawn Tuesday to evict the farmers from the 14-acre plot, a rare swath of green in the otherwise industrial belt between Alameda Street and Long Beach Avenue. Seeking to prolong the multiyear land dispute, protesters chained themselves to pipes inside. Actress Daryl Hannah, environmental activist John Quigley John B. Quigley is a professor of law at the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, where he is the Presidents' Club Professor of Law. In 1995 he was recipient of The Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award. and a few other demonstrators secured themselves above the fray in a walnut tree. Supporters poured in, chanting and waving signs, as county Sheriff's Department deputies and Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . officers bearing clubs and shotguns surrounded protesters, making
arrests.
``This is the end, my friend,'' said Tezozomoc, one of the farmers' representatives, quoting a line from Jim Morrison Noun 1. Jim Morrison - United States rock singer (1943-1971) James Douglas Morrison, Morrison . ``But we don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. yet. This is just another chapter.'' A chapter in the struggle that dates back to the mid-1990s, one involving celebrities and community activists, political pressure and complex land deals. Developer Ralph Horowitz bought the site two decades ago, lost it to the city through eminent domain eminent domain, the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over all lands and buildings within its borders, which has its origins in , then bought it back for the price the city paid him. In the interim, the sizable site became used by more than 350 families to farm peppers, cilantro, squash and indigenous herbs. But after Horowitz regained the property with the intent to transform the rows of corn and cactus into a commercial project, the farmers sat on tenuous ground. They fired off 61 claims to block development, all rejected by the court, and requested a temporary restraining order temporary restraining order: see injunction. , also turned down. They enlisted the help of high-profile supporters such as Hannah, folk music folk music: see folk song. folk music Music held to be typical of a nation or ethnic group, known to all segments of its society, and preserved usually by oral tradition. Knowledge of the history and development of folk music is largely conjectural. icon Joan Baez, musician Ben Harper Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American musician. Biography Harper was born in Claremont, California, U.S. (in California's Pomona Valley). He began playing guitar as a child in Claremont. and his wife, actress Laura Dern. And they relentlessly lobbied Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. to use his clout to keep the site open. Through various sources, his office was able to wrangle $6 million in donations, well short of the $16.3 million Horowitz originally requested to sell the site. Last week, the Annenberg Foundation The Annenberg Foundation, a charitable family trust, was created on July 1, 1989 by media magnate and former Ambassador to the Court of St. James's Walter H. Annenberg. Initial funding of $1. announced a surprise offer of $10 million in cash and an agreement to finance the remaining $6 million. But Horowitz, reportedly furious about being cast as the villain by farm supporters, rejected the offer and demanded the farmers removal. At 5 a.m. Tuesday, 65 helmeted deputies of the Sheriff's Department's Civil Management Unit moved in, with the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. and Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. assisting. Authorities cut through the chain-link fence around the farm and extricated ex·tri·cate tr.v. ex·tri·cat·ed, ex·tri·cat·ing, ex·tri·cates 1. To release from an entanglement or difficulty; disengage. 2. Archaic To distinguish from something related. the demonstrators who'd locked themselves inside. Then came an earthmover earth·mov·er n. A machine, such as a bulldozer or backhoe, that is used for digging or pushing earth. earth to level off the ground for a fire engine. The truck pulled inside and extended its ladder, eventually plucking the remaining protesters from the tree shortly after noon. The LAPD arrested 27 people on suspicion of failing to disperse, and sheriff's deputies arrested an additional 17, including Hannah, on suspicion of failing to obey a court order and obstructing a peace officer. The scene was chaotic, but largely peaceful. There were demonstrators accusing the authorities of breaking apart the community. Then there were counterdemonstrators accusing the farmers of breaking apart the community. Then came the guitar players, then the drummers. Armed with an ear-splitting whistle and a pot she banged with a rock, farmer Andrea Rodriguez angrily defended the site she's come to rely on. ``We want to go back to Mother Earth, get nutrition for our families,'' she said in Spanish. ``We will struggle. We won't go. We are all together and we will not leave. We're just farmers, we don't have money, but we're still important.'' Repeated attempts to reach Horowitz at his office were unsuccessful, though he told The Associated Press that he found the farmers to be ungrateful and wanted his land back. Though Dan Stormer Stormer may refer to:
A few hours after the evictions, Villaraigosa spoke with Horowitz on the telephone and reiterated his support for the Annenberg Foundation's $16 million offer. But Horowitz said the property was worth even more money, Villaraigosa told reporters later. Horowitz also told the mayor he felt personally vilified by the farmers and wouldn't sell until he evicted every single person from the land. ``I told him that from my vantage point, this is a more than fair offer. This is an opportunity for us to have an urban garden in the city that wants to be the greenest big city in America,'' Villaraigosa said. ``And he said, well, that was nice but he wasn't accepting.'' While running for mayor, Villaraigosa pledged to help save the farm and, once in office, assigned Deputy Mayor Larry Frank to seek private donations to help the farmers buy the land from Horowitz. But the price was a moving target, the mayor said, going from about an estimated $6 million to $10 million to $12 million to the final price tag of $16 million. The mayor and allies had a hard time raising funds to buy the land because many potential donors felt the land wasn't worth the price. ``I understand a businessman's need to invest and make a profit. I also have a high respect for and will defend property rights,'' Villaraigosa said. ``But I also believe that we are called upon by a sense of community and civic duty to do the just and right thing. I had hoped that the landowner would have heeded that call.'' Staff Writer Kerry Cavanaugh contributed to this report. brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com 818-713-3738 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) LAPD officers handcuff a protester at the South Central Farm, where 44 people were arrested Tuesday. (2 -- color) A South Central Farm supporter holds a poster of a farmer during a protest Tuesday against the eviction The removal of a tenant from possession of premises in which he or she resides or has a property interest done by a landlord either by reentry upon the premises or through a court action. of farmers. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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