Closer?

At a community meeting with Los Angeles County officials last Friday, April 11, 2014, Briggs Road residents learned of the progress the county has made toward restoring their traditional access to Soledad Canyon Road. 

Briggs Road Community Cherishes and Maintains the Natural Terrain

But first, bottom bottom line: we are not there yet. We cannot drive any closer to Soledad Canyon Road than we could after the last meeting a month and a half ago, nor do we have an easement by the other, long and tortuous “back way.” I do apologize for starting off with this downer disclaimer, but after the last meeting newspapers and friends had the impression that we were finally freed from government forces besieging and land-locking us. That was not the case then, and it is not the case now.

On to a more positive slant—

Norm Hickling, deputy to County of Los Angeles Michael D. Antonovich, listed these encouraging developments [comments in brackets are mine]:

Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is now willing to give the Briggs Road Community an easement through that last parcel where “the back way” emerges onto Agua Dulce Canyon Road. [I cannot tell you what the time span is between “willing to give” and “has given.” In the opinion of this very naïve observer it should not take long at all, but in the lengthy experience of this very jaded casualty of callous government, who knows?]

  

The Dust Trap

The once celebrated straightening and shortening of the back way, such an encouraging promise eight years ago, is back on the list of possibilities. This time, though, the community will have to pay the several tens of thousands of dollars—maybe even a hundred thousand—for the grading. [Until we can do that, even with an easement at the end we still do not have a decent access for fire and emergency vehicles. However, it seems to this very naïve observer that establishing the easement, even without the new road, would go a very long way toward restoring our devastated property values.]

California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Los Angeles County engineers are working toward creating an expedient access across the Santa Clara River. [A low non-obtrusive Arizona crossing would suit the Briggs Road Community best, but Oasis Park may have commercial intentions and need a higher crossing which would cost more and possibly wash out more frequently.] Since it is the users who will bear the expense of construction, Los Angeles County counsel is fully engaged in working out how the Briggs Road Community and Oasis Park will share rights and responsibilities.

Low Crossing Would Suffice for this Typical Low Flow

We will meet again in 40 to 60 days, unless something wonderful and positive occurs, in which case Norm will contact us.

Now here is the sad part. Our trust has been badly damaged. As I have said before, I want to believe what I hear from the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, as do most of the rest of us. And so I choose to believe that these developments are actually occurring. But my neighbors and I find ourselves unable to fully commit to believing anything any official says about our access any more. Some just don’t believe any of it. Others are compelled to append the phrase, “if they are really telling the truth,” to any discussion of what a Los Angeles County official says. This may be deserved, or it may be an artifact of government indifference and neglect. Whatever the cause, speaking only for myself, this loss of trust is very unfortunate and an additional complication we do not need.

Downtown on Briggs Road

Let us all—officials, residents, and any others involved—make a sincere effort to be worthy of trust, and to trust generously but judiciously.  

Come Save the Day!

I just hung up from an ominous and very scary phone call. As a result I am setting aside the post I just finished writing and starting anew.

The whole thing puts me in mind of a story from my past. When I was thirteen and fourteen back in New Jersey I had a cute little girlfriend named Linda. I was aware that she had a former boyfriend from a nearby town known to be the home of tough guys, but I didn’t worry about that. Well, maybe I worried a little bit.

One day two guys from that town somehow accompanied Linda and me into my very home. My parents were not home. Stupidly unafraid, I probably invited them in. One of the guys went off to talk to Linda, and the other, bigger and older than I, sidled me off to our living room.

“Stay away from Linda,” he warned. “If you see Linda any more I am going to knock all your teeth down your throat.” Those who know me know that I remember the words of others quite well, and these were words to remember.

I am not a fighter. I am easy meat for anybody that wants to beat me up. So what did I do? I kept seeing Linda. I did break up with her a couple of years later, but for reasons that had nothing to do with those tough guys, whom I never saw again.

Now I find myself really afraid of some really tough guys. That phone call was scary.

But I think I’ll keep seeing Linda.

I realize that Michael D. Antonovich can pull some really mean dirty tricks on me if he chooses to. Well, hell, cutting us off from our homes was a pretty dirty trick, wasn’t it? I can’t say Michael Antonovich was directly involved in that, but I definitely believe that his influence has been far more negative than positive, as far as my family’s and neighbors’ quality of life is concerned. I have been told by many people that he is very likely behind much of the loss of our access. That phone call this morning put fear in me, but it also convinced me again that powerful, self-interested officials of Los Angeles County and the State of California are well-equipped to strip us of everything.

So why am I back? Because I know the difference between right and wrong, and I know that if I stop seeing Linda just because a hoodlum from the next town told me so, I will still lose everything, plus my self-respect. I was minding my business, teaching mathematics to the youngsters of our county, when all of this started in 2004. I did absolutely nothing to bring this on myself, and nor did any of my neighbors. So, despite your phone call, and you know who you are, I intend to continue seeking wide-spread public support for our cause, because that is our only salvation.

But no, of course I will not divulge the name of the caller. I’m not stupid.

I’m just an old guy who can’t fight, and surely those who did our neighborhood wrong are fully aware of how powerless we are. Our only hope is that someone who can fight, someone who is tougher and meaner than Michael D. Antonovich and certain officials of the State of California—or at least can’t be destroyed by them—will step forward and open up our access to our homes.

Our hero doesn’t have to be meaner, although the people trying to ruin our real estate values may think she or he is, for taking away their spoils. But I would prefer to be championed by someone nicer.

I am put in mind of my father, who never took my side against bullies. He believed that though I was younger and smaller and outnumbered, I should go back to that playground and get my basketball back. Okay, we are not looking for that kind of father. We are looking for someone who gets it, and who sees the need to assist innocent, unassuming folk such as me, my family, and my community.

Mighty Mouse, where are you?