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Home Depot peace sought
Amid a contentious battle over a proposed Home Depot, city officials tried to cool tempers Saturday by hosting a community dialogue aimed at finding a middle ground between warring factions. About 200 community residents attended, although organizers had been expecting up to 1,000. Although a few supporters, including Home Depot employees, noted the project would likely bring more jobs to the community, most in the crowd were against it. Asked for opinions, most listed complaints such as traffic and an increase in day laborers. Some even used the term "community assassination." "(I'm) totally, vehemently against a Home Depot in Sunland-Tujunga," said Darlene Gogun, who has lived in the community for about 38 years. She's concerned that a big-box store like Home Depot would increase air and water pollution, as well as noise, in an area that has five schools nearby. Some residents sat and listened patiently as mediators engaged them in dialogue in an effort to understand their concerns and to work toward constructive solutions. Billed as "the Sunland/Tujunga dialogue," the meeting at Mount Gleason Middle School was set up by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office as part of an agreement with The Home Depot Inc., which suspended a $10 million lawsuit against the city while it seeks a building permit. The company is seeking to build a store on the old Kmart lot on Foothill Boulevard, which it bought in 2004. Amid community discontent over the proposed project, its original building permit was rejected by the council last year. The back-and-forth battle has resulted in organized community-based resistance, complete with a Web site dedicated to all things against the Home Depot. The home-improvement center countered by funding an effort to bus in mostly Latino supporters to public meetings, where they accused some of the opposition of being racist. Francisco Uribe, a senior manager of government relations for Home Depot, said the company needs to do a better job of highlighting the benefits of having a store in the community. He listed good wages with benefits for workers and community outreach efforts for schools and programs such as Habitat for Humanity. "We're hopeful something is going to happen that's going to allow us to open the store," Uribe said. "We think it's right for the city. We think it's right for this community." Abby Diamond, who co-chairs the Sunland-Tujunga Alliance, a nonprofit group that works on issues affecting the community, said she hopes the strong showing of community residents against the proposed store has a lasting effect. "I hope Home Depot gets the message that they can do something else with that site," Diamond said. Attorney Barbara Goldfarb, a volunteer facilitator with the dispute-resolution team that conducted the meeting, made sure everyone knew that she and her staff had no connection to the home-improvement company. "I do not have a Home Depot credit card," she said before people split up into 27 groups. "I do not own Home Depot stock." Goldfarb said the dispute-resolution program is funded by grants and funds from the city and county. "Certain times (these types of efforts) don't work. Other times, they work out wonderfully," Goldfarb said. "There's always an answer to conflict if people will talk." http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9070059 |
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