Who Is Going To Rock City Hall Steps Tomorrow?
As I took White Dog on a walk around City Hall today, I ran into fences set up around the whole South area (Main St. to 1st St. to Spring St.)- but I was pleasantly surprised that they were left open so I could walk through as I always do.
As I get near Spring St., I see more massive fencing…
Now I see a break in the fence, and head out to Spring St, which is closed (damn, that really screws up bus service on that main route- I’m kind of sensitive to that now 
), so I jay-walk to the west side of Spring to get a better look at what is going on- clearly something BIG is going on here- not just a normal movie shoot… maybe Radiohead or NineInchNails is going to play a few songs at lunch- this can’t be just a movie or tv show filming- shutting down Spring St.?
As I get closer, I see a huge stage, grand stand, and lighting system erected in front of City Hall- what could this be??? I’ve never seen anything like this on City Hall’s steps before.
So I am dying to know what this is all about- I don’t usually ask nosy questions at movie shoots, etc, but I ask a security guard what is going on. He says “It’s September 16th!” in broken English. Huh, what, did I lose a couple days on my calendar? I ask again, saying what is this for? This Hispanic security guard is beaming, and says “It’s the Mexican Independance Day, and the Mayor speaks”.
Oh boy- I make some snide comment about it’s nice that the Mayor shuts down the street in front of his office for Mexican Independance Day and shows his face (security guard did not understand, so my comment fell on deaf ears). Then I am thinking- what was there downtown to celebrate Fourth of July- United States Independance Day. I can’t remember anything, but then again, I had just gotten out of hospital and having to possibly return was on my mind, so maybe I missed something.
And September 16th??? That’s Tuesday. Is Spring St. going to be shut down until then? I cannot find a good LA City Calendar that lists this event (no surprise- the city web sites are one big cluster fvck).
Please don’t take this as disrespect to Mexicans; they are some of the hardest working people, with the most “American” ideals, and it’s great to see that we can celebrate together. But this event seems a little “over the top”- I am going to find out more about what this event really is.
A last comment- the HEROES Tv Show Premier Red Carpet/Party last weekend was much smaller in stature than the event portrayed here, although it was very huge and took days of work to construct and dismantle. Shouldn’t the Mexican Independane Day be celebrated in a much larger fashion than a TV series premier party? Well, you have to consider who is paying for what. HEROES makes tons of money, and can afford it. The City of Los Angeles is in a BUDGET CRISIS and cannot afford stupid expenses- I will leave it at that.
And LOTS of people are being affected by the Spring St. closure for 2-3 days. I pass by the bus stops there at least twice a day and they are always packed with commuters waiting for a bus- I wonder what these folks will do when they see they can’t get to their bus stop.
Oh well- Tony, you go boy- you ‘da man…
hey I went to the city of la.org website and clicked on the events calendar section.. Monday is “El Grito” celebration for many of the council districts including CD9 which is the city hall falls under:
http://parc1.lacity.org/appldept/calendarME/FileDocs/council/cd9/eventsCalendar/cal95247.jpg
if you look at the poster it is 1st & Spring at city hall from 6-10pm on Monday the 15th and is listed as “free entertainment for the whole family” There will be lots of music of various types and has many sponsers.
Today at Levitt Pavillion are Mexican Independance festivities (that’s CD1 Ed Reyes office I think) Monday will be festitivies not just in CD9 but also CD 14 as well CD13 hosted by Councilmember Alarcon. It’s not as big as Fiesta Broadway but it’s a big party certainly.
I wouldn’t expect you’ll be inconvenienced more than a day. =)
September 14th, 2008 at 5:05 pmPamela- I’m glad you are so well informed on what our tax dollars are being spent on. It’s not about me being inconvenienced- that’s a movie shoot or a music video shoot.
You can throw around all the “CD..” crap you want- I think it still sucks. But I appreciate you posting your opinion.
September 14th, 2008 at 5:10 pmBTW- I want to la.org - I don’t think that’s what you meant- what web site did you find the info on? I can’t keep track of the dozen or so web sites that you need to figure out downtown happenings…
Why isn’t Ed Fuentes giving us a “heads up” on this? He is good at reporting about an event, but a “heads up” would be nice.
September 14th, 2008 at 5:14 pmthe city of la website:
http://www.lacity.org/
if you look along the left column there is “city meetings & agendas” and the link below that is “city events calendar” that is what you click on when you want to know what sort of City events are going on. That’s where I went to see what sort of festivals are going on..
The “CD” is council district.. we are in council district 9 but also the Broadway corridor is CD 14 which is Jose Huizar’s District.. Broadway & El Pueblo The CD is important in that it’s what area of the city is affected. That’s all.
I don’t know if I stated any opinion in my comment but the impression I got by YOUR comments is that you ARE inconvenienced by it.
I understand I guess in that when I lived in Anaheim I was always dealing with fireworks and Disneyland related traffic and tourist stuff but I knew that when I moved to a place that has a lot of activity, whether it’s tourist driven or civic driven (or in the case of moving downtown civic & film industry driven) It’s a pain in the ass sometimes but then that’s also the price to pay living where we live.
September 14th, 2008 at 5:26 pmWould you expect anything less from Mayor Vato?
Memorial Day, Labor Day, 4th of July, Veterans Day….I’ve never seen Mayor Longsleeves shutdown this area and celebrate these events.
Mexican Independance? Sure, shut down Shitty Hall for a foreigner holiday.
Only in Hell A.
September 14th, 2008 at 6:01 pmAmen, Officer- at least you get my point…
September 14th, 2008 at 6:50 pmYou know, I was really thinking about sending you a warning about this event as Ed Fuentes was busy in the last few days with postings on VFAL dealing with 9/11 remembrances as well as beginning an assessment of the consequences to be felt in the downtown community from Friday’s horrifying Metrolink accident, including the tragic death of LAPD officer Spree Desha. I had remembered how upset you were last year at this time as reflected in your 9/15/2007 posting in which you ruminated on the possibility the event might become a bottle throwing melee. However, within two days your fears seemed to have been allayed and you seemed to be mollified by the passing of events as you commented on 9/17/2007 the “the noise from the bands and the crowd control was perfect” and “we saw many happy families that came to enjoy the celebration and they were very nice to me and my dog”. I thought, maybe this was an event that would not require advance advisement as it occurs every year on September 16.
September 14th, 2008 at 11:53 pmWhich brings me to the point I wish to make. Though I agree with you that Mayor Villaraigosa is a terrible municipal administrator who sees this job as a mere stepping stone to even higher elected office, attributing this celebration to being a personal project of this particular Chicano mayor in order to pander to Mexican-American voters is delusional at best. The “El Grito” speech and the Mexican Independence Day have been celebrated at Los Angeles City Hall for more than sixty years. Even a cursory search on yahoo will allow you to pull up a picture of a parade on Spring Street in front of City Hall to commemorate Mexican Independence Day on September 16, 1943. Even in the midst of the Second World War, Angelenos were encouraged by their city government to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. In my own personal memory, I can remember such distinctly non-Mexican mayors like Richard Riordan and Tom Bradley giving speeches exhorting people to celebrate this holiday.
As for the money being expended, very little municipal revenue will be needed due to the swollen corps of corporate underwriters putting up the cash so THEY can pander to their potential customers. A glance at the information provided by meekorouse yields a list of corporate sponsors that includes AT&T, Macy’s, Clear Channel, Yellow Cab, Los Angeles Dodgers, BN&SF Railroad, Jack Daniel’s and Wells Fargo. You can talk to All Access Entertainment, the professional company that actually produces this event, as well as many others, to find out just how much the city had to pony up to put on this annual fiesta.
As for next year, you have my promise that I will give you a “heads up” before September 16, 2009 rolls around. That is because I can assure you that next year, and ten years from now, whether the mayor at that time is Mexican, Moldovan or Hmong, they will be commemorating the “El Grito” and “dieciseis de septiembre” on the streets around City Hall in Los Angeles.