Carson Mobile Home Closings, Port Litigation and Pet Clinic Protest top Most-Viewed Stories of the Year By Hunter Chase, Community News Reporter
I
t’s been a busy year for the Harbor Area. In 2021, three of the highest-viewed stories on Random Lengths News’ website featured Carson. Number one featured residents of Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates being forced out, number four focused on beloved diner Ted’s Burgers, and number 10 addressed the terrible smell that lingered on the city for two months. Three stories put a spotlight on San Pedro, all involving alleged crimes or protests. Two focused on Long Beach, one on their dining program and another on the lack of response to complaints about police.
1. Mobile Home Residents Forced Out
Two out of three sisters: Squash bean stew p. 10
By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
2021 was the Year of the Coup, its aftermath, aftershocks, and recurrent antecedents. Even before the year began, Random Lengths News warned that Donald Trump’s denialist reaction to his 2020 election loss was both a grift — raising hundreds of millions of dollars with zero accountability and only the vaguest semblance of rationale — and a coup, noting at the time: “While many observers have resisted such talk, it’s important to realize that a failed coup is a coup nonetheless, even a comically inept one. What’s more, even a comically inept coup can sometimes succeed.” We also went on to note that, “however anomalous, atypical and quixotic Trump’s attack on our democracy might be, it is echoed by a framework of constitutional structures that are inherently hostile to the one-person/ one-vote spirit of democracy we nowadays take to be
fundamental to our democracy. What’s more, between these two extremes — the atypical Trump and the foundational constitutional structures — there lies an extensive middle ground in which democracy must battle for its very life.” After the coup attempt came to a head on Jan. 6, we warned, “It was dangerous not just because it left five people dead — and could have left many more — but because it may well be only the beginning.” This message was highlighted again in August, in response to congressional hearings and new revelations in books. “There was an attack carried out on Jan. 6, and a hitman sent them,” Officer Harry Dunn said in the first House hearing on the insurrection. “I want you to get to the bottom of that.” But, we noted, “The guardrails of democracy that held this last time have already been
severely eroded in the past six months,” citing voter suppression laws, escalating attacks on election administration, and opposition to even hearing from Dunn. “The illusion that the insurrection is behind us could be even more dangerous than the illusion that the COVID pandemic is behind us as well.” While many more details have emerged since then, with the promise of extensive public hearings next year, Republican support for subverting future elections has only grown stronger since then. Meanwhile Democrats tried to make democracy work. On March 11, President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which we called “the most consequential and most popular rescue package since the New Deal.” Although no Republicans in
December 22, 2021 - January 5, 2022
Review: Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley p. 9
2021: The Year of the Coup
Local restaurants mostly silent on proof of vaccination status p. 3
RLN’s Most-viewed Local Stories of 2021
Graphic by Suzanne Matsumiya
[See Local Stories 2021, p. 4]
Real People, Real News, Really Effective
Two new apartment buildings are set to begin construction in Carson, one with 300 units and the other with 19. Unfortunately, to build these developments mobile home residents are being forced out of their homes. Residents of Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates were given 12 months to leave after Faring Capital bought the land to convert it into a mixed-use development. More than 400 residents are seniors on a fixed income. Faring Capital hired an appraiser for each mobile home, but Claire Condon Anderson, mobile home owner since 1983, was not happy with the results. “He and his associate grossly undervalued my home at $37,000 when I have records of similar homes selling recently for $150,000 to $200,000 locally and some were even in this same park,” Condon Anderson said. “If this park must be closed, we want the fair market value for our homes and not just the value of a scrap pile.” Residents own the actual homes, which are called coaches, and
[See Year, p. 8] 1