Petition is successful with 1,138 signatures
To: Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of EXPO Center; Anthony Paul Diaz, Executive Director and Chief of Staff, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks; Michael Shull, General Manager, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks
NO EVICTION from the EXPO Farm!
This campaign has ended.
The EXPO farm is a critical resource for the surrounding neighborhood, a model for urban food production, a beautiful green space, a place of gathering, learning and building community. Community Services Unlimited has worked with dozens of partners and thousands of community residents to build and maintain the urban farm since 2004 and working with multiple partners http://csuinc.org/about-us/funders-and-partners/ we have offered free hands-on educational programming for residents of all ages. After more than 15 years of dedication and leadership we say NO to this attempt to evict CSU, and NO to any attack on The CSU/EXPO Urban Mini Farm – no eviction, no shut down!
Why is this important?
In addition to signing the petition, we urge you email and call the following people directly so they hear directly from the thousands of people who oppose this eviction!
- Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of EXPO Center, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks
belinda.jackson@lacity.org
213-763-0121
- Anthony Paul Diaz, Executive Director and Chief of Staff, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks
ap.diaz@lacity.org
213-451-8592
- Michael Shull, General Manager, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks
michael.a.shull@lacity.org
213-202-2633
- LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks board of commissioners
rap.commissioners@lacity.org,
213-482-6941
Please cc csu@csuinc.org on any written communication and please let us know about your phone call
Since late 2004 Community Services Unlimited Inc. (CSU) has worked alongside community members to envision, create, develop and maintain the CSU/EXPO Mini Urban Farm located at The EXPO Center. The farm is the only space of its kind in South LA, and one of the few green spaces in the immediate neighborhood around the EXPO Center. With numerous partnerships and working with countless residents CSU has created a model for urban farming and a center for community learning and sharing!
The farm hosts education and training programs for South LA residents, including youth, providing training in sustainable food production, healthy cooking, entrepreneurship, and community organizing. More than 600 youth and 800 adults have participated directly in specific training programs at the farm, and thousands of others have volunteered to help build and maintain the farm.
On November 24, 2020, Community Services Unlimited (CSU) was bcc’d on an email from Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of The EXPO Center with two attached documents, an RFI (request for interest) and a cover letter http://webpost.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LtrandRFI-ExpoCenterGardeningServices-11-2-2020.pdf. The RFI is requesting proposals from “qualified non-profits to bring programming to the EXPO Farm”. This email was the first time CSU had heard anything about such a request and we have no knowledge of who else has received it.
In the light of other attempts to disrupt work at the Farm we believe this is a veiled attempt to remove CSU from the Urban Farm. Five years ago an attempt was made by Belinda Jackson to effectively shut down the farm and install a parking lot! CSU launched a public campaign with a petition, emails, letters and phone calls and we were able to keep the Farm intact. See details of this past campaign here https://www.change.org/p/belinda-jackson-executive-director-of-the-expo-center-save-the-csu-expo-urban-mini-farm
Early in 2020 CSU staff arrived at the Farm and found that the locks to the gates had been changed with no notice given to us. Belinda Jackson claimed that she had done this due to an incident of vandalism, we saw no signs of any and when we asked what was vandalized and if there had been any photos taken or a police report made, we received no response.
Since receiving the most recent email on November 25, 2020, CSU has written to Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of EXPO Center, as well as Anthony Paul Diaz, Executive Director and Chief of Staff, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks, and Michael Shull, General Manager, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks, and to members of the LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks Board of Commissioners. We have asked that the RFI be withdrawn (aside from this highly questionable process there are stipulations in the RFI that we believe are deeply problematic) and that we have a meeting with someone with authority to assure us that the CSU/EXPO Urban Mini Farm and the work there will be honored and no further attempts will be made to disrupt it or to shut it down, or to evict CSU.
Finally, we must note: it is concerning that this action is being taken now, during a pandemic when so many more local families are struggling every single day to access food. The CSU/ EXPO Mini Urban Farm is a part of the local food ecosystem CSU and partners have been building. The food grown at the farm is incorporated into our programs and this year has been critical in enabling us to provide fresh, local produce in the sponsored grocery bags CSU and partners have been providing to local families. Read this document for details http://webpost.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EXPOProduceDescrip-FINAL-CSU_112920.pdf
We ask that you support us by signing this petition AND writing to and calling the following people directly:
Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of EXPO Center, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks belinda.jackson@lacity.org, 213-763-0121
Anthony Paul Diaz, Executive Director and Chief of Staff, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks ap.diaz@lacity.org 213-451-8592
Michael Shull, General Manager, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks michael.a.shull@lacity.org 213-202-2633
LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks board of commissioners, rap.commissioners@lacity.org, 213-482-6941
Please cc csu@csuinc.org on any written communication and please let us know about your phone call
Sincerely,
The CSU/EXPO Urban Mini Farm Defense Committee
- Neelam Sharma & Heather Fenney, CSU Co-Executive Directors
- Cristian Marroquin, South Central LA Resident, CSU Board of Directors
- François Bar, Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty, Annenberg School of Communication, USC
- Rosa Romaro, Program Director UEPI, Occidental College & Co-President, South Central Farm
- Dyane Pascall, Conscious Capital Investment Enterprises, South Central Resident, CSU Board of Directors
- Diane Y Kim, PhD, Senior Scientist & DEI Manager, USC Wrigley Institute, USC
- Frank Tamborello, Hunger Action Los Angeles
- David Lloyd, PhD, Professor, University of CA Riverside & CSU Board Member
- Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of EXPO Center, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks
belinda.jackson@lacity.org
213-763-0121
- Anthony Paul Diaz, Executive Director and Chief of Staff, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks
ap.diaz@lacity.org
213-451-8592
- Michael Shull, General Manager, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks
michael.a.shull@lacity.org
213-202-2633
- LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks board of commissioners
rap.commissioners@lacity.org,
213-482-6941
Please cc csu@csuinc.org on any written communication and please let us know about your phone call
Since late 2004 Community Services Unlimited Inc. (CSU) has worked alongside community members to envision, create, develop and maintain the CSU/EXPO Mini Urban Farm located at The EXPO Center. The farm is the only space of its kind in South LA, and one of the few green spaces in the immediate neighborhood around the EXPO Center. With numerous partnerships and working with countless residents CSU has created a model for urban farming and a center for community learning and sharing!
The farm hosts education and training programs for South LA residents, including youth, providing training in sustainable food production, healthy cooking, entrepreneurship, and community organizing. More than 600 youth and 800 adults have participated directly in specific training programs at the farm, and thousands of others have volunteered to help build and maintain the farm.
On November 24, 2020, Community Services Unlimited (CSU) was bcc’d on an email from Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of The EXPO Center with two attached documents, an RFI (request for interest) and a cover letter http://webpost.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LtrandRFI-ExpoCenterGardeningServices-11-2-2020.pdf. The RFI is requesting proposals from “qualified non-profits to bring programming to the EXPO Farm”. This email was the first time CSU had heard anything about such a request and we have no knowledge of who else has received it.
In the light of other attempts to disrupt work at the Farm we believe this is a veiled attempt to remove CSU from the Urban Farm. Five years ago an attempt was made by Belinda Jackson to effectively shut down the farm and install a parking lot! CSU launched a public campaign with a petition, emails, letters and phone calls and we were able to keep the Farm intact. See details of this past campaign here https://www.change.org/p/belinda-jackson-executive-director-of-the-expo-center-save-the-csu-expo-urban-mini-farm
Early in 2020 CSU staff arrived at the Farm and found that the locks to the gates had been changed with no notice given to us. Belinda Jackson claimed that she had done this due to an incident of vandalism, we saw no signs of any and when we asked what was vandalized and if there had been any photos taken or a police report made, we received no response.
Since receiving the most recent email on November 25, 2020, CSU has written to Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of EXPO Center, as well as Anthony Paul Diaz, Executive Director and Chief of Staff, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks, and Michael Shull, General Manager, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks, and to members of the LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks Board of Commissioners. We have asked that the RFI be withdrawn (aside from this highly questionable process there are stipulations in the RFI that we believe are deeply problematic) and that we have a meeting with someone with authority to assure us that the CSU/EXPO Urban Mini Farm and the work there will be honored and no further attempts will be made to disrupt it or to shut it down, or to evict CSU.
Finally, we must note: it is concerning that this action is being taken now, during a pandemic when so many more local families are struggling every single day to access food. The CSU/ EXPO Mini Urban Farm is a part of the local food ecosystem CSU and partners have been building. The food grown at the farm is incorporated into our programs and this year has been critical in enabling us to provide fresh, local produce in the sponsored grocery bags CSU and partners have been providing to local families. Read this document for details http://webpost.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EXPOProduceDescrip-FINAL-CSU_112920.pdf
We ask that you support us by signing this petition AND writing to and calling the following people directly:
Belinda Jackson, Executive Director of EXPO Center, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks belinda.jackson@lacity.org, 213-763-0121
Anthony Paul Diaz, Executive Director and Chief of Staff, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks ap.diaz@lacity.org 213-451-8592
Michael Shull, General Manager, LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks michael.a.shull@lacity.org 213-202-2633
LA Dept. of Recreation and Parks board of commissioners, rap.commissioners@lacity.org, 213-482-6941
Please cc csu@csuinc.org on any written communication and please let us know about your phone call
Sincerely,
The CSU/EXPO Urban Mini Farm Defense Committee
- Neelam Sharma & Heather Fenney, CSU Co-Executive Directors
- Cristian Marroquin, South Central LA Resident, CSU Board of Directors
- François Bar, Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty, Annenberg School of Communication, USC
- Rosa Romaro, Program Director UEPI, Occidental College & Co-President, South Central Farm
- Dyane Pascall, Conscious Capital Investment Enterprises, South Central Resident, CSU Board of Directors
- Diane Y Kim, PhD, Senior Scientist & DEI Manager, USC Wrigley Institute, USC
- Frank Tamborello, Hunger Action Los Angeles
- David Lloyd, PhD, Professor, University of CA Riverside & CSU Board Member