L.A. farmers win a round in eviction fight

A temporary stay of an eviction of 350 family farmers in South Central Los Angeles was won March 9, due to mounting pressure by the farmers and the citywide community—from South Central to East Los Angeles to Hollywood—and the inclusion of some prominent figures in the anti-war movement.

John Parker, left, speaks at rally. At right, Zack de la Rocha, formerly of Rage Against the Machine. Photos: Jasper Yu

The terms of this stay hold as long as the negotiations for the farm are still in pro gress. Even with these limitations, given the city’s previous intransigence against the farmers who were subject to daily threats of eviction by a ruthless developer, this retreat by the city was a life-saving breath of reprieve.

“We are now planning for the hearings with the city set for Monday, March 20, which will consider our filing for the right of possession of the land,” said Rufina Juarez, one of the principal elected representatives of the farm. “We will continue our actions at the city council and elsewhere to keep up the pressure. This is just a step in a long journey. It’s not over yet.”

L.A. farmers protest, March 10.

These families in South Central Los Ange les have been sustaining themselves with a 14-acre community farm. They have had the legal right to work on this land for 13 years, until now—due to an illegal eviction by the city in favor of real estate developer Ralph Horowitz. The city had allowed this South L.A. community to develop this land into a productive farm. About 10 years later, the city secretly sold it to Horowitz for a little more than $5 million in a back-room deal that was not sanctioned by the required public hearing. Horowitz is now demanding $25 million for the property—an amount far out of reach for the farmers.

Los Angeles County Sheriffs posted an eviction notice on the fence near the entrance to the farm on March 1. The notice only gave farmers until March 7 to vacate. Fortunately, a technical error was found in the notice and an extension until March 13 had to be granted.

During the time leading up to the eviction order, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had consistently refused to meet with the farmers and, like the city council, said the city’s hands were tied because the property belonged to Horowitz. One mayoral assistant met with some of the farmers outside of the mayor’s office at city hall just days before the first eviction deadline. The assistant told them the city was having trouble trying to find the $25 million Horowitz was demanding—a sum that amounts to a 500 percent gross profit by turning around the sale of the now privately-owned property back to the city.

Insensitive to the desperation and stress felt by the farmers facing an impending deadline, the mayor’s official mouthpiece refused to answer the question of why the city could not either look into the illegality of the sale of the property or, using the claim of eminent domain, put a hold on the evictions.

The city administration and mayor obviously needed a push from workers, progressive organizations and individual activists—and that’s what they got.

Unity and struggle won stay

On March 5, with the eviction looming, farmers and their supporters held a planning meeting to discuss emergency actions to defend the farm. A week of activities was planned, which included protests at the city council, door-to-door leafleting, draping of banners across major highway overpasses and confronting the Mayor to demand that he use his power to stop the evictions.

Rosa Romero of Axis of Justice in Los Angeles—an organization made up predominantly of youth that deals with hun ger, homelessness and sweatshops—was one of the primary organizers arranging daily actions of protest against the evictions. She commented on how enthusiasm for the farmers grew as the eviction threats increased. “In the last three weeks, since we knew we had to raise awareness, more people were willing to come out to help strategize, our web hits were doubling and our mailing list grew by 1,000 last week alone. And our organizing meetings have grown with organizations bringing more representatives.”

Part of the activities included a planned demonstration on March 9, to be held at the mayor’s mansion by members of the support committee of the farmers and the Los Angeles International Action Center.

The IAC and Mindullae, a Korean youth organization led by Jamie Kim, initiated a letter—signed by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; celebrities Ed Asner and Casey Kasem; Vietnam war veteran and author of “Born on the Fourth of July” Ron Kovic and prominent activist organizations in the city, all strongly supporting the right of the South Central Farmers to the farm they built and calling for a March 9 protest in front of the mayor's mansion.

When city officials learned of the possibly large demonstration, they began pleading with and pressuring farmers to call off the protest at the mayor’s mansion in exchange for temporarily halting the eviction. An agency pledged $30,000 on behalf of the city to Horowitz in order to stop the evictions until negotiations on the property were over.