Patrick O'Donnell makes a call to Supervisor Janice Hahn on behalf of the River Park Coalition as Long Beach faces equity challenges on multiple fronts.
OPINION - The River Park Coalition hosted a zoom rally today. The grass-root group is advocating for the privately owned parcel at 3701 Pacific Place to serve as an open space park instead of a proposed storage facility. Offering support and resources, Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell joined the live streamed rally with fresh ideas and encouragement.
“I always say don't agonize, organize... there's nothing more American than that.”
- Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell
The River Park Coalition's vision for the vacant parcel has managed to gather steam locally. Organizers have engaged the community with yard signs and even raised several thousand dollars for legal fees on GoFundMe. Their central argument is that the North and West side of Long Beach have too few parks and too much pollution.
Organizers also point to the racial inequity related to health, shortened life span and diminished quality of life for the communities of color that make up this area of Long Beach.
The private owner of the nearly 14 acre parcel is vertical storage developer InSite Property Group. The company has big plans for the vacant parcel. They want it to serve as their headquarters as well as a storage facility.
Their chief argument is that for many decades neither the city nor private enterprise have developed the land which is now little more than a sandbox beside the 405 Freeway.
It's tempting to marginalize this conflict as a single incident between a private owner and a few disgruntle community members. But with over a thousand facebook view of the zoom rally as of today the movement is becoming harder to ignore.
River Park Sets the Stage for Equity in Long beach
The broader story, however, is that the drama unfolding at Pacific Place provides a window into the foreseeable future - and likely fall out - of environmental and racial-equity politics in Long Beach.
For context, last Tuesday Mayor Garcia announced that the city has "over 100 initiatives and goals to take on structural racism and promote equity".
At the center of forming a more equitable Long Beach will mean addressing issues like fair zoning policies, pollution and campaign contributions through an equity lens. The saga at Pacific Place is a perfect storm wherein each of these hard to reach challenges collide.
In other words, what's happening between the River Park Coalition and the InSite Property Group is a preview to everything in Long Beach from who will replace Mayor Garcia to the political limits of racial and environmental equity.
Will Patrick O'Donnell Run for Mayor
If Mayor Garcia is promoted to Washington, waiting in the shadows is a troop of would-be replacements including Long Beach's native son and favorite History teacher, Assemblymen Patrick O'Donnell.
During Mayor Garcia's State of the City address, the mayor twice mentioned that he was working closely with the incoming Biden administration. While Garcia hasn't landed a job yet and was passed over for California's U.S. Senate seat and again for California Secretary of State, he is often placed on the so-called short list.
At today's River Park Rally, O'Donnell certainly sounded like a leader.
He used word's like "organize", "vision" and "the American way". He casually mentioned that he was streaming from his garage and had just walked the dog earlier that morning. Those of us on the call felt like we were in the living room with our friend Pat.
Politically, O'Donnell was careful not to make any definite promise regarding the disputed parcel but at the same time he was generous with his office resources and contacts. Smartly, O'Donnell managed the groups expectations and advised them to locate additional spaces and broaden their vision.
Showing he'd done his homework, the former school teacher didn't leave the call before letting organizers know that he had called supervisor Janice Hahn on their behalf. O'Donnell encouraged Hahn to find a path to turn LA County owned parcel into park space.
The land O'Donnell referenced sits beside the disputed parcel. It maybe the political compromise that smooths things over unless River Park can raise enough money to buy the property from InSite. Assuming, that is, if InSite is willing to sell.
In less than five minutes, O'Donnell had made a positive impact on a group of engaged, if not, outraged citizens. Whether or not he can actually do anything, he was at least actively listening and showing he cared.
If O'Donnell can bring that sort of charismatic and unifying leadership to Long Beach, he may actually have a chance of winning the mayor's seat when it opens.
Whoever rises to the challenge to lead Long Beach will have navigate a new terrain of equity on city resources ranging from police to parks and health equity.
The lack of parks and open space along the Los Angeles River points to the continued lack of interest by local and County issues in the needs of West and North Long Beach. Park expansion, urban forests and wetlands preservation have yet to be created along the Lower Long Beach LA River.