Barrio Hollywood residents won!!!
Baldenegro, Salomon R – (baldenes)
To Salomon R. Baldenegro
Jul 19 at 12:09 PM

Estimadas/os: This is a follow-up to my recent e-mail describing the events, re: Barrio Hollywood and the attempt to lessen the impact of Barrio Hollywood residents in favor of outsiders, and asked for your support of Barrio Hollywood residents.

Long story short: Barrio Hollywood residents won!!!! The bylaw change that would allow only Barrio Hollywood residents to vote in Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association matters won overwhelmingly—69-13. The details are below. To put things in perspective, it’s important to know that:

1. The attempt to dilute the voting power of Barrio Hollywood residents did not originate in Barrio Hollywood. This attack on Hollywood was orchestrated by outside political forces who want to do to Barrio Hollywood what was done to the downtown barrios during the so called “Urban Renewal” (which really was a “Mexican Removal”) campaign in the 1960s: destroy its cultural-historical memory, run the current residents out and gentrify the area and thus destroy the political viability and activism of the west side.

2. This attack on the west side is rooted in the El Rio Coalition-II beating back the plan promoted by the Ward One City Councilmember and the Mayor to convert the historic El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course into a complex of high-rise condos and apartment buildings and commercial establishments, which would have permanently and irreversibly changed the character of Barrios Hollywood and El Rio, including the local Hollywood businesses.

Consider the following:

A. The City offered the 108-acre El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course to Grand Canyon University (GCU), who only would have needed about 20 acres.

B. In offering El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course to GCU, the City committed to rezone Barrios Hollywood and El Rio to allow the building of high-rise condos and apartment buildings and commercial establishments on what is now the golf course.

See the excerpt below of the City of Tucson document we obtained via court order, after the City of Tucson, in violation of state law, refused to release it.

The fact is that by stopping the destruction of El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course, the El Rio Coalition-II helped the Barrio Hollywood businesses. The commercial establishments the City wanted to bring in would have drawn business from the local Hollywood businesses and maybe even driven some out of business.

C. Further evidence that the City did not intend to protect neither Barrio Hollywood nor the Hollywood businesses is found in the City’s February 22, 2013 communication to GCU. In enticing GCU to take over El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course, the City devoted 660 words to the section entitled “Nearby Services and Amenities.”

In that entire section, neither Barrio Hollywood nor Barrio Hollywood businesses are mentioned…not even once!

The ONLY business mentioned by name and promoted by the City is the supermarket chain Albertson’s, which is not in Hollywood.

But in that official document the City promotes:

* “Tucson’s vibrant downtown which has a great variety of restaurants (with several new ones poised to open), shopping…” and

* “…the 4th Avenue Retail District” and its stores and restaurants, and

* The University-area Main Gate Square, “…home to upscale restaurants.”

Reading the City’s enticement letter to GCU, one can get the impression that there are no restaurants or other commercial establishments in Barrio Hollywood!

The City is in no uncertain terms advising GCU to direct its students, faculty, and staff to completely bypass Barrio Hollywood businesses in favor of downtown, Fourth Ave., and UA businesses!

Barrio Hollywood is one of Tucson’s oldest neighborhoods, and the El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course sits right in the heart of Barrio Hollywood. But Barrio Hollywood is not mentioned—not even once!—in the City’s letter to GCU.

But neighborhoods that are mentioned and promoted are: El Presidio Neighborhood, Barrio Historico, and Armory Park neighborhood.

The City also promotes “…the popular bi-annual 4th Avenue Street Fair.”

But Barrio Hollywood’s 13-year-old Fiesta Grande, which attracts 50,000 people a year, is not mentioned by the City, as if it does not exist.

Obviously, the plan to turn El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course over to the developers was an attack on Barrios Hollywood and El Rio and on the Barrio Hollywood businesses. Given the facts, no other explanation or conclusion is possible.

So you can read it in its entirety and in full context, the City document cited here is Attached. This document was part of the secret dealings the City had with GCU. We obtained the document via court order, after the City of Tucson, in violation of state law, refused to release it, and we sued.

Conclusion

Those who claim that the plan to destroy the historic El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course was designed to help Barrio Hollywood—its families, residents, businesses—have been lied to and misled and are therefore woefully ignorant of the facts. The politicos behind the plan to destroy El Rio Golf Course and Barrios Hollywood and El Rio and the politicos’ groupies know the facts and are outright lying.

The Election:

In my last e-mail I noted that a special meeting for July 16th at 6:00 pm was set to discuss and vote on the proposed bylaw changes.

There was an outstanding turnout at the July 16 meeting—both of Hollywood residents and supporters. Thank You! to the many of you who went to show support. There were over 100 people at the meeting, the overwhelming majority Hollywood residents.

Approximately 50 people, mostly young people, many from Hollywood, held a march through the barrio before the meeting, carrying signs saying things like: “Hollywood is our barrio!” … “Take back our barrio! … “Barrio Unity!”

Forty-five (45) years ago, in 1970, under the auspices of “El Rio for the People!,” I and many of you marched through Hollywood to the same place (what is now El Rio Neighborhood Center) carrying signs with similar messages. It was moving and inspiring to see young people take charge of their destiny and stand up for their barrio—just as we did in the 1970s.

Here are the official results of the July 16, 2013 Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association vote:

Proposal 2, which would allow only Barrio Hollywood residents to vote in Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association matters, won resoundingly by a vote of 69-13. The vote for Proposal 2 would have been greater, but the person who chaired the meeting delayed the vote so long that many people had to leave before they could vote.

The Barrio Hollywood residents who organized last night’s turnout deserve our gratitude and our respect. They did an outstanding job of organizing—talking to their neighbors, explaining the issues and the history of the Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association, etc. Ceci and I are proud to have worked with them.

Make no mistake: the political forces behind the attack on Hollywood will come up with another plan of attack. Thus, your continued support is important. Those who have targeted Barrio Hollywood—and other neighborhoods—need to see that our neighborhoods and barrios have broad support.

Salomon

Here’s the excerpt of the City of Tucson document of March, 2013 that would allow the conversion of the El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course into a complex of high-rise condos and apartment buildings and commercial establishments (this document was obtained via court order, after the City of Tucson, in violation of state law, refused to release it):

SITE

A. Ownership

El Rio Golf Course is owned and operated by the City of Tucson and is located at 1400 W. Speedway Tucson, AZ 85745

B. Size

The size of the property is 108 acres

C. Entitlements/Zoning

The site is currently zoned R-1. R-1 Zoning, per the City of Tucson Land Use Code 2.3.4.1, provides for urban, low density, single-family, residential development, together with elementary or secondary schools, parks, and other public services necessary for a satisfactory urban residential environment.

Should GCU choose this site, it will need to be rezoned to OCR-1 or PAD. OCR-1 Zoning, per the City of Tucson Land Use Code, provides for high-rise development that serves the community and region located in major activity centers or at transit centers. A mixture of development types is encouraged, including office, commercial, and high-density residential uses.