California’s Promising New Climate Agenda —
Activists Weigh In By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
A
Coalition for a Safe Environment founder Jesse Marquez. Photo by Arturo Garcia-Ayala
[See Activists, p. 4]
Scientists complete search for barrels of DDT off Palos Verdes Coast p. 3 Carson City Clerk Donesia Gause-Aldana leaves for Riverside p. 6
Bruce family goes toe-to-toe with Manhattan Beach City Council By Melina Paris, Editorial Assistant
travelled great distances to be able to bask in the sun on the California coast. But many white residents, as well as the wealthy San Pedro real estate developer George Peck, were not happy about these events — or the popularity of the resort. They harassed the Bruces and the Ku Klux Klan tried to burn down the resort. Ultimately, in 1924, the Manhattan Beach City Council robbed the Bruces of their land through eminent domain, claiming an “urgent need” to build a park. After it was left unused for many years, the land was transferred to the state in 1948. No park was built until 1957 and then in 1995 it was transferred back to Los
Angeles County. Racial covenants in real estate deeds, commonly known as “red lining’ were not outlawed in California until the California Supreme Court ruled in the 1967 case, Reitman v. Mulkey. Most of the South Bay, all of Palos Verdes and much of San Pedro were segregated by this method. Hahn seized upon the 1995 transfer of the land back into county hands as an opportunity to right an historic wrong. Hahn enlisted numerous allies in the state legislature to make this goal a reality. State Sen. Steven Bradford — who is a new appointee of the state reparations task force — April 12,
April 15 - 28, 2021
After nearly a century an injustice brought upon the Bruce family in Manhattan Beach stands to be repaired. On April 9, LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, at a seaside press conference in that beach city, made formal LA County’s intentions to return the beachfront property to the direct descendants of the Bruce family. Upon hearing the story behind Bruce’s Beach, Hahn set out to correct a wrong and to get justice for the Bruce family. In 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce purchased two parcels of property in Manhattan Beach for $1,225. The couple built the first beach resort owned by and built for Black Americans when segregation prevented them from going to the majority of other beaches. Black families
Shakespeare by the Sea’s Measure for Measure: Meat-and-potatoes Bard in the Wild West p. 13
Century-Old Injustice Redressed by Hahn
Real People, Real News, Really Effective
s we reported last month, California’s environmental record last year was abysmal — just 74% on the “Environmental Scorecard” from the California League of Conservation Voters. And the Greater SoCal 350 Legislative Committee’s report card was equally bleak — all Ds and Fs across every subject area, from “oil and gas extraction and operations,” to “transportation” and “plastic pollution” to “Green New Deal and just transition.” Coalition for a Safe Environment founder Jesse Marquez and other activists weighed in. “The last legislative session was a horrific disappointment,” said Sherry Lear, who heads the committee. The COVID-19 pandemic and oil company lobbying were two chief impediments cited in its report card. “Paid lobbyists were able to be present in Sacramento, while local folks were relegated to remote Zoom meetings,” it noted. “This meant more than ever that only those with ‘inside’ connections were able to be heard.” Perhaps most bitterly, as Lear recalled, SoCal 350’s highest priority bill for environmental justice, Assembly Bill 345, “died a very ugly death” in a committee hearing when three Democrats voted against it, with personal attacks on the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, as well as activists. The bill would have required health protection zones between hazardous and polluting oil and gas production facilities and sensitive uses such as schools, homes and hospitals. California is the only oil-producing state without such health safety zones. After such a disappointment, this year could be quite different. “We’ve been very pleasantly surprised at the sheer amount of environmental bills that have been introduced, and the quality and breadth of them,” Lear said. Some setbacks have already happened, but the sheer range of proposals is inspiring.
[See Bruce’s Beach, p. 8]
COVID-19 Deaths decline in LA County. On April 14, 2021: 23 new deaths • LA County total: 23,505 COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S.: 577,399
1