Although many are denying the accusation, there is certainly the appearance of “fasttracking” with regard to the approval of the Silver Lake Reservoirs Complex Master Plan Final Environmental Impact Report (SLRC FEIR). First, the council’s Energy and Environment Committee placed the SLRC FEIR on a “Special Agenda” less than two weeks after it was issued, securing a unanimous vote of 4-0. It then moved quickly up the chain and is on the city council’s August 23 agenda for approval. (Yes, that’s tomorrow.)
The rush to approval
We believe the rush to approve the SLRC EIR is because Hargreaves Jones Landscaping Architects, Inc, the consulting company hired to facilitate the Master Plan EIR process, has a contract that expires on September 12. To extend the contract beyond this date would likely cost the city more money. Hargreaves was initially paid $1,450,000, which was then increased to $2,123,948, and then further increased to $2,914,545—then increased once more to $2,920,000 in order to complete the final phase of the EIR, which includes being available during the city council’s vote. It’s not a well-kept secret that LADWP has no intention of spending another darn dime (our emphasis) on this out-of-scale project.
Who represents our community?
CD 4’s Nithya Raman chose to recuse herself from the entire project due to the fact she
owns property within 500 feet of the reservoirs. That leaves only CD 13’s Soto-Martinez
representing our neighborhood and, according to his staff, he’s leaning toward a “YES”
vote on the motion. Even though the EIR writing is on the wall, we strongly recommend
that you continue to share your concerns with the entire city council. You can participate
by attending the city council meeting, calling each council member and/or sending an
email. Please refer to the contact information in the next story.