This column has a sweet tooth for tasty neighborhood disputes -- particularly ones that are relevant to anyone in Southern California.
So here's one from Western Heights, an old neighborhood just west of downtown Los Angeles that borders the Santa Monica Freeway and is filled with stately Craftsman homes, some in better shape than others.
A few years ago, responding to residents' concerns, then-Councilman Martin Ludlow started the process of getting barriers built to keep outside traffic from using neighborhood streets as a shortcut between the Santa Monica Freeway and Washington Boulevard.
Herb Wesson, who was elected last year to replace Ludlow, inherited the issue and supports the building of three permanent barriers to replace the temporary ones put in place. About 82% of Western Heights residents want the barriers, Wesson says.
Now, you may be thinking that most residents would set up TSA security checkpoints at entry points to their neighborhoods if they could.
Not Dianne Lawrence, a Western Heights resident, and that raises the question ...
*
Question: Why is Lawrence hopping mad about the barriers?
Answer: Hit it, Dianne:
"These people love it because they have nice, quiet streets, and it makes their property values go up," said Lawrence. "But it's like taking a sledgehammer to solve a problem.
"If people were speeding, why not put in speed bumps? What Wesson did is say all you have to do is get your neighborhood together, get a majority vote and come on down. He just lowered the bar for every other neighborhood in town."
Among her complaints, Lawrence is angry that Ludlow got the council to approve the barriers without the city doing a full study to document the problem.
And she thinks the barriers will slow down response from the police and fire departments, although only one barrier blocks the entire width of the street.
*
Q: And what do barrier supporters say?
A: "People go right off the freeway at full-speed mode, and we have people speeding through our neighborhood at 50 mph," Dan Hakes, a member of the Western Heights Neighborhood Assn., said in an interview. "The neighborhood is gentrifying, and kids are on the streets -- life is so much easier since the temporary barriers went up."
As for Lawrence, Hakes said "her tactics are deplorable. Her arguments have changed many times. We have a neighborhood e-mail group that she has ruined. She's an e-mail bully."
