P.O. Box 432181 Los Angeles, CA 90043 Phone & Fax: (323) 761-6435 info@crenshawsubway.org www.CrenshawSubway.

org May 11, 2013 The Honorable Eric Garcetti Candidate for Los Angeles City Mayor 2013 11326 Ventura Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 91604 Dear Mr. Garcetti: Thank you for meeting with some of the core members and advisors of the Crenshaw Subway Coalition to discuss the Crenshaw-LAX Light Rail Project Wednesday morning. Consistent with our process for each Mayoral candidate, this letter is being sent as follow-up to our meeting. As communicated, the Coalition is committed to the development of a rail line that is completely underground on Crenshaw Blvd and includes a station at Leimert Park Village. We are encouraged by your pledges to: fight for a Leimert Park Village station; appoint a person from South LA to the MTA board; appoint a transit rider to the MTA board; and regularly meet with us to work on this important issue. Unfortunately, we were somewhat disappointed in the conversation, and the shortened time frame was a challenge. Reducing a 45-minute meeting by any period, let alone by nearly 1/3 after taking over a month to meet indicated to some a lack of seriousness being given to this issue. With respect to the substance of your letter and the dialogue, we note your choice to express that you supported (past tense) undergrounding the line from 48th Street to 59th Street (the Park Mesa Heights tunnel). Our community considers past support on this issue from the Mayoral candidates significant, but current positions far more relevant to the communitys needs. With four votes on the MTA board, the next Mayor will be in a position to add funds to the Crenshaw-LAX Line necessary to build the Park Mesa Heights tunnel. Accordingly, the community is not seeking a simple articulation of past support. It is expecting a champion, who will commit their four MTA votes and considerable clout behind making the Park Mesa Heights tunnel a reality. Generations of leaders have fought to improve the economic conditions and quality of life along Crenshaw Boulevard. It is a dream that dates back to Mayor Tom Bradley and Congressman Julian Dixon who brought the subway to Hollywood, and it is one that many hope the next Mayor would dedicate substantial political capital towards actualizing. The vision of a Crenshaw with thriving businesses and entertainment opportunities that allow dollars to stay local, along with the boulevards historic scenic highway status and safety of schoolchildren are all in peril with the current street-level plan. The damage to this key and unique Los Angeles community, the regions last black business corridor, would add another sad chapter in the long history of Los Angeles transportation decisions that decimated communities of color. The community is seeking a Mayor who recognizes this grave injustice and the incredible opportunity to get the vision back in sight. We note the stark difference between your stated position on the Leimert Park Village station, which is currently scheduled to be decided prior to the beginning of the next Mayors term, and the Park Mesa Heights tunnel. You state I will continue to aggressively fight for the rail stop in Leimert Park, yet have multiple qualifications associated with your advocacy for the Park Mesa Heights tunnel. These
Crenshaw Subway Coalition is a California 501(c)3 nonprofit, led by a collaboration of South L.A. neighborhood associations, business owners & community leaders

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GARCETTI-CSC MAY 8, 2013 MEETING FOLLOW-UP

qualifications are deeply concerning because they are identical to the unfounded excuses our Coalition has received for nearly two years from Mayor Villaraigosa. These qualifications read as out-clauses intended to justify continuing Villaraigosas disastrous course on this project. The facts are: The environmental review to add the Park Mesa Heights tunnel as an option to the project could have been completed by now. Conducting the environmental review to add the Park Mesa Heights tunnel as an option to the project could proceed simultaneous to the current process without delaying the project. Changing the project from street-level to underground from 48th Street to 59th Street would affect less than 20% of the project length. The remaining 80% of the project could proceed as planned while the environmental review process for the Park Mesa Heights tunnel is conducted. The only challenge to including the Park Mesa Heights tunnel or the Leimert Park Village station in the project is political will, not time or money.

With respect to the final point, the community expects the next Mayor to champion marshaling the necessary funds to the project, primarily because we know the resources exist today, and even more revenue is anticipated in the future. Specifically, in just the past 60 days the Los Angeles City Council has dedicated $354 million of Measure R local return dollars for the Downtown LA trolley, and the MTA has proposed to bond against future revenue to accelerate over $10.2 billion in transit and highway projects in every part of Los Angeles County except South Los Angeles. Furthermore, we note your positions supporting: reducing the passage threshold for transportation taxes from 2/3rds to 55%, and placing another Measure J on a future ballot. Such a measure would generate over $90 billion in additional revenue for MTA. In the context of a transportation agenda that seeks to generate tens of billions more in tax revenue for MTA in the near future, surely you understand why it is very difficult for us to reconcile any hesitation to champion securing the necessary resources for the Park Mesa Heights tunnel today. We have become a more sophisticated community as it relates to transportation investment, so theres not the money for Crenshaw is considered not just unacceptable, but offensive. We sincerely hope, that if you feel that your letter dated May 1, 2013 is an inaccurate reflection of your position on this issue that you will send us correspondence to clarify no later than Monday, May 13, 2013 at noon. We will be releasing a scorecard detailing mayoral candidate positions on the rail project no later than Monday afternoon. This issue has become one of the most critically important issues to Black Los Angeles and the Crenshaw community and will undoubtedly be pivotal in the election of the citys next mayor. Additionally, we will be hosting a tele-townhall with key stakeholders next week during which time we plan to discuss mayoral candidate positions. We look forward to making our constituents aware of your position and circulating the scorecard widely. Sincerely, /S/ DAMIEN GOODMON Damien Goodmon Executive Director Cc: Mayoral Candidate Meeting Attendees

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