Supporters of the November ballot measure Measure J, which is led by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others who have ignored the requests of our community with respect to transportation, have reached out to African-American opinion leaders. They are in search of black faces to support their unjust, unfair, and unacceptable proposed sales tax increase that provides NOT A PENNY for our community to address the outstanding issues on the Crenshaw-LAX Rail Line, which is soon to begin construction.

The proposed countywide sales tax increase Measure J will tax South LA communities until 2069. It is projected to generate an additional $90 billion dollars for MTA, on top of the $40 billion already dedicated to transit expansion through Measure R, which was passed in 2008.

There are many arguments for opposing Measure J, including the insufficiency of the projects to meet our region’s transportation needs for the next 57 years, the inability of the MTA to manage so many projects simultaneously, the lack of sufficient funding to operate the projects and accompanying bus service that is constantly being cut, and the simple truth that you cannot trust Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and this MTA board.

The People’s Motion is an effort to request the MTA underground the section of the rail line from 48th Street to 59th Street – the final portion of the Crenshaw/LAX Line that is at street-level on Crenshaw Blvd. If the rail line is built underground in that portion the entire length of the line on Crenshaw Blvd would be constructed in a subway by bored tunnel, preserving and enhancing Los Angeles’ last African-American business corridor and protecting the safety of our children.

Join us this Saturday at a critical organizing meeting, and the worldwide premiere of the Crenshaw Line documentary trailer by Park Mesa Heights resident and filmmaker Ted Levy.

Sat April 14, 12:30 – 2 PM
Angeles Mesa School Auditorium
2611 W. 52nd Street
(4 blocks west of Arlington at 4th Ave)
Download the flyer (pdf)

The People’s Motion is an effort to request the MTA simply study a tunnel in Park Mesa Heights (from 48th to 59th Streets) in the only section of the Crenshaw-LAX Line currently proposed to be built at street-level on Crenshaw Blvd.

In a press release issued yesterday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters announced that she sent a letter to MTA CEO Art Leahy, urging him to seek TIGER funds for the construction of light rail stations in Leimert Park and Westchester on the Crenshaw-LAX Rail Line. Both stations are currently considered “optional” by the MTA at this juncture. The TIGER program is a nationwide competitive grant program that creates jobs by supporting investments in transportation infrastructure.

On Monday, Crenshaw Subway Coalition, the community coalition that on October 21st filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County MTA for failing to appropriately plan the $1.749 billion Crenshaw-LAX Light Rail Line, held a standing-room only meeting of 150 residents, merchants, property owners, parents and stakeholders in the Crenshaw community to discuss how they intend to “Win the Battle for Crenshaw” over the largest public works project in the history of South Los Angeles. Also in attendance were representatives from the offices of Congresswoman Karen Bass, Assemblymember Mike Davis and Councilmember Bernard Parks.

Join us on Monday, November 7 as we reveal the third component of our strategy to achieve a Crenshaw Blvd subway and Leimert Park Village station, and review our lawsuit.

Crenshaw Subway Coalition Community Meeting
Monday November 7, 6 PM
Crenshaw DWP Auditorium
4030 Crenshaw Blvd
(near MLK next to Krispy Kreme)

Last month, Thandi Chimurenga of the new CyberGround Railroad, an e-publication focusing on Black Los Angeles run by African-American activist reporters, questioned the seriousness of modern day social activist movements in the context of our statement that we would stop construction of the Crenshaw-LAX line if people of the community are not guaranteed a small percentage of the construction jobs — just 30%. (As an organization, Crenshaw Subway Coalition has called for a local hire requirement of 40% and a goal of 50%). It’s an important question and provides us the opportunity to discuss the seriousness of our organization in protecting the future of Crenshaw Blvd.

Last Friday, our coalition of residents, merchants, property owners and stakeholders concerned about the future of Crenshaw Blvd and Leimert Park Village took the historic step of filing a lawsuit against the Antonio Villaraigosa-led MTA for violating environmental and civil rights laws when the MTA board approved the Crenshaw-LAX project on September 22nd: Crenshaw Subway Coalition v. Los Angeles County MTA (LA Superior Court Case No. B134507)

Our op-ed on the betrayal of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of the Crenshaw community and the systemic disinvestment of South L.A. appears in Intersections South LA and CityWatch. The full op-ed is below.