Our October 16 E-Newsletter

Posted by Fix Expo Team

Citizen's Campaign to Fix the Expo Rail Line
A grassroots effort led by Save Leimert Neighborhood Coalition and Expo Communities United
P.O. Box 8508 * Los Angeles, CA 90008 * FAX: (323) 295-9467 * www.FixExpo.org

OCTOBER UPDATE – October 16, 2007
  • Expo Line Forum TODAY - BE THERE!
The West Adams Neighborhood Council, Dorsey Alumni Association and neighborhood organizations are hosting an important community safety forum on the Expo Light Rail Line through South LA, TODAY, Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Dorsey High School Auditorium at 3537 Farmdale Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90016. (You can download the flyer here.)

The MTA/Expo Authority will be there to answer questions in a open public forum. (We can assume one of them will be, "Why do you want to run a 225-ton train within 20 feet of Dorsey HS at 55 mph up to 30 times per hour?") Our organization will present the problems we see with the light rail line and the LAUSD Office of Environmental Health and Safety, and the LAUSD Parent Collaborative will speak as well.

Your presence is needed not only to learn more about the problems with the project and how to fix them, but to show all who will be looking on – the politicians and media - that the community is really concerned about the rail line coming through South LA at street level (known as "at grade"). School Board Member Marguerite LaMotte is confirmed to attend and we're expecting no less than five media outlets and possibly Councilman Herb Wesson.
We're now live on the web at www.FixExpo.org. Bookmark it and stop by regularly to keep up to date on this issue and view the numerous memos, videos and audio that expose the deficiencies of the Expo Line as currently designed. Go there now to view the surge of Dorsey students who cross at Farmdale & Exposition after school everyday (link) and read some of the countless smoking memos we've uncovered.
  • We're in the News! Pick Up this week's Our Weekly
Our press release "Was LADOT Head Gloria Jeff fired for Opposing the Expo Rail Line" was published in it's entirety in this week's Our Weekly (link). The day before Jeff was fired, representatives from over 8 homeowners associations, 5 community based organizations and 2 neighborhood councils spoke at the monthly MTA Board Meeting to protest adding $18 million dollars to the Expo Line construction for an optional USC station and track improvements in the portion of the Blue Line that the Expo Line is proposed to share. (The MTA has the money for an optional USC station and upgrades to Blue Line tracks, but they won't pay for underpasses in South LA??? Right in front of our schools???? WHERE ARE THEIR PRIORITIES?!)

Among the documents we presented to the board and press to illustrate that the Expo Line is not designed to be safe was a strongly worded letter from Jeff to MTA. In the letter she states that the Expo Line design is fatally flawed, "not safe for pedestrians," "not acceptable to LADOT," and would lead to "major gridlock" (click here to read the full letter). The next day Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa fired the African-American general manager for undisclosed reasons.
  • The Petition Drive Continues
The Save Leimert team was out in full force at last Saturday's Taste of Soul, collecting over 500 signatures from concerned citizens throughout the region, in just a few hours! From as far out as Oceanside and Lancaster to right in Jefferson Park everyone agrees: the Expo Line must be built correctly through South LA! Thank you to all who signed and participated.

Help continue the momentum. DOWNLOAD THE PETITION (link) and circulate it within your home, workplace, church and organizations. (You don't have to be a registered voter). There is strength in numbers.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

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