L.B.: Ahead of City Council vote, voices speak for and against Cambodia Town plan.
By Mira Jang, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (Long Beach, California, USA)
10/22/2006
LONG BEACH - If there were any opponents to designating a portion of Anaheim Street as Cambodia Town, the obvious suspects probably wouldn't be leaders within the Cambodian community. But that's precisely the scenario for this ethnic enclave of political refugees.
Community activists who reject the designation say such a corridor would ignite racial tensions between Cambodian and Latino youth, whose relationship, they say, is fragile at best.
Furthermore, they say Cambodians should be grateful to this country's generosity in taking them in after the extremist group, the Khmer Rouge, took power in Cambodia in 1975. Showing gratitude, they say, means assimilating to their new American identity rather than highlighting their differences.
Armed with thousands of petition signatures, plan proponents say an official area in a dilapidated part of town where many Cambodian businesses congregate will fuel a much-needed makeover by drawing in tourists and businesses. It would also instill cultural pride in a people psychologically damaged by their past, organizers say, and help ensure that U.S.-born children don't forget their culture and heritage.
The two sides promise a large turnout of their supporters at Tuesday's City Council meeting, when the council will consider approving a drastically different version of the original Cambodia Town proposal.
If approved, it would be the first "Cambodia Town" in the country and the only ethnic town in the city.
Council wrangling
As revised by Councilwoman Laura Richardson, whose 6th District comprises most of the original Cambodia Town boundaries, the new proposal restricts the area to about five blocks, or about one-fifth of the area organizers had requested. In addition, the corridor, on Anaheim Street from Peterson to Gardenia avenue, would be on a six-month trial period instead of immediately becoming a permanent fixture. The original corridor would have been from Atlantic to Junipero avenues.
"Some people questioned it from a safety perspective," Richardson said. "There should be an opportunity to see how this works."
In addition, she said the smaller area captures a more dense Cambodian business district, with about 70 percent of businesses run or owned by Cambodians. Her proposal also requests that the city look into adding a bus stop along the corridor.
But Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, whose 2nd District encompasses half of the new area, said five blocks is "too small" and the trial period is insulting to community leaders who worked hard for many years to ease concerns.
"I'm disappointed. I don't support the pilot program, and I don't support (Richardson's proposal)," she said.
Initially, Richardson agreed to work on the proposal with Lowenthal and Patrick O'Donnell of the 4th District, which included a small part of the original Cambodia Town plan.
After initial cooperation, Lowenthal said Richardson abruptly ceased contact.
"I made several attempts to work with (her office). ... Her draft was not shared with us," Lowenthal said. "I'm most disappointed that an opportunity to collaborate on the proposal was discarded. I firmly believe we would've had a better proposal had it involved and had sign-off of members who represent the area."
O'Donnell said it's too early to determine the boundaries for Cambodia Town and wants to see the city involved in gauging public sentiment for it.
"I'll support anything that benefits our city, but this is a significant proposal. It could be an economic engine, but it has to be vetted through a process. You just can't slap it down," O'Donnell said.
Peter Long, a board member of Cambodia Town Inc., said Richardson's sudden shift surprised him and others who thought the councilwoman was on board with their vision.
"It's not what we wanted, but it fits better with everyone," Long said. "At this point, we'll work with whatever we got right now. We don't have a lot of time to think about it."
Long is confident that the community will pull together to clean up the streets, create a neighborhood watch group, and possibly create a business improvement district. They already received $22,000 from private donors, and he said they don't expect any city funds.
During the six-month trial, Long said supporters will transform the area and show skeptics that a Cambodia Town benefits everyone. He hopes this will allow the corridor to expand at a later date.
Competing visions
A 27-member group, Cambodia Town Inc., asked the city to approve Anaheim Street from Atlantic Avenue to Junipero Avenue as Cambodia Town. Most of the group's members are Cambodian immigrants who work as professionals; the rest are leaders of black, Latino or Filipino organizations, as well as academic and civic leaders.
The group envisioned sprucing up the area and marketing it as a tourist destination by highlighting authentic Cambodian restaurants, clothing stores and art. They would install signs on both ends of the corridor that thanked visitors for stopping by and bid them farewell as they left. Signs on the Long Beach (710) and San Diego (405) freeways would also help direct traffic to the area, they said.
This version of the plan, dated Sept. 7, received support from council members Rae Gabelich, Lerch, Bonnie Lowenthal, Suja Lowenthal and Richardson.
An older version, begun more than five years ago, proposed an even larger area along Anaheim Street, from Long Beach Boulevard to Temple Avenue. But political resistance and infighting within the Cambodian community mired that version.
As the planning continued, some group members left, others remained and new leaders joined the effort.
One of the opponents, Brian Ben, is a longtime community leader and former head of Cambodian organizations. He was also a former staffer to Richardson and has served on city commissions.
He said the members of Cambodia Town Inc. don't have the authority to make decisions on behalf of a community that they left once they prospered financially and moved to safer neighborhoods, only to return to make a profit.
Ben said because he lives in the area, he's keenly aware of Cambodian-Latino relations that, he says, will further deteriorate if the city approves Cambodia Town.
"The war is going on. We (left) a killing field to come to another killing field," Ben said. "Everybody knows that the largest Cambodian population is in Long Beach ... There is no need to declare that."
He said the 200 area businesses and 4,000 residents who signed off in support of Cambodia Town did so because they do not know how it would affect their safety.
If anything, he said the street should be called an international corridor, reflecting the diversity of businesses and residents in the area, which include Vietnamese, Chinese and a large Latino population.
Ironically, Ben has pushed for a Little Phnom Penh designation (in deference to Cambodia's capitol), defending the plan as one that evokes cultural pride rather than nationalism that, he says, the name Cambodia Town elicits.
Long, a Cambodia Town Inc. member, said while it is true that most of the group's members do not currently live in Long Beach, many own businesses along Anaheim Street and still feel a strong connection to the community.
"Everybody is working as volunteers, and not all are businessmen. Some are professors, some don't have to be here. We went through really hard times, and we promised ourselves that we would give back to the community later," said Long, a Long Beach resident who chairs the Cambodian-American Chamber of Commerce.
Other members say some in the community object to any plan for which they cannot take credit.
"In every community, there are people who oppose everything," said Richer San, an advisory council member.
Conflict nothing new
Disunity among Cambodians, a small minority in the city and numbering about 44,000 in Los Angeles County, is nothing new. The community erupted in disagreement on the date of their annual parade, and, like many new immigrant groups, it struggles over who will legitimately speak for the community and its interests.
Raising the specter of increased racial violence is simply a red herring aimed at squashing community support through fear, organizers say. They don't think the area is prone to any more racially charged outbreaks than other parts of the region that have been recognized ethnic towns, such as Little Saigon, Koreatown or Chinatown.
ADD YOUR VOICE
What: Long Beach City Council meeting
When: 5 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Council Chambers, City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.
TV: Broadcast live on Charter Cable channel 8 and replayed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday
Internet: Live broadcast and previous council meetings available at www.longbeach.gov/cityclerk/council-online.asp
Long Beach Police Department's gang detail officers say Cambodia Town will not heighten racial violence among different gangs or ethnic groups.
"There's gang culture and there's culture culture. They're separated," police spokesperson Jason Wong said. "We have no reason to believe, and we do not anticipate, that there will be an increase in any tension between the Cambodian and Latino communities or an increase in gang tension."
Regardless of the outcome of Cambodia Town, its opponents say the process needs to start over and include them. They say the community needs to slow down and start by creating a business improvement district to clean up the area and then explore the possibility of something more.
"When the time comes, it'll come," Ben said. "What's the emergency?"
But supporters say they've been waiting long enough. They want to work with what the city may allow and prove to everyone, including naysayers among their own, that their vision of Cambodia Town was worth the fight.
Mira Jang can be reached at mira.jang@presstelegram.com
or at (562) 499-1278.
By Mira Jang, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (Long Beach, California, USA)
10/22/2006
LONG BEACH - If there were any opponents to designating a portion of Anaheim Street as Cambodia Town, the obvious suspects probably wouldn't be leaders within the Cambodian community. But that's precisely the scenario for this ethnic enclave of political refugees.
Community activists who reject the designation say such a corridor would ignite racial tensions between Cambodian and Latino youth, whose relationship, they say, is fragile at best.
Furthermore, they say Cambodians should be grateful to this country's generosity in taking them in after the extremist group, the Khmer Rouge, took power in Cambodia in 1975. Showing gratitude, they say, means assimilating to their new American identity rather than highlighting their differences.
Armed with thousands of petition signatures, plan proponents say an official area in a dilapidated part of town where many Cambodian businesses congregate will fuel a much-needed makeover by drawing in tourists and businesses. It would also instill cultural pride in a people psychologically damaged by their past, organizers say, and help ensure that U.S.-born children don't forget their culture and heritage.
The two sides promise a large turnout of their supporters at Tuesday's City Council meeting, when the council will consider approving a drastically different version of the original Cambodia Town proposal.
If approved, it would be the first "Cambodia Town" in the country and the only ethnic town in the city.
Council wrangling
As revised by Councilwoman Laura Richardson, whose 6th District comprises most of the original Cambodia Town boundaries, the new proposal restricts the area to about five blocks, or about one-fifth of the area organizers had requested. In addition, the corridor, on Anaheim Street from Peterson to Gardenia avenue, would be on a six-month trial period instead of immediately becoming a permanent fixture. The original corridor would have been from Atlantic to Junipero avenues.
"Some people questioned it from a safety perspective," Richardson said. "There should be an opportunity to see how this works."
In addition, she said the smaller area captures a more dense Cambodian business district, with about 70 percent of businesses run or owned by Cambodians. Her proposal also requests that the city look into adding a bus stop along the corridor.
But Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, whose 2nd District encompasses half of the new area, said five blocks is "too small" and the trial period is insulting to community leaders who worked hard for many years to ease concerns.
"I'm disappointed. I don't support the pilot program, and I don't support (Richardson's proposal)," she said.
Initially, Richardson agreed to work on the proposal with Lowenthal and Patrick O'Donnell of the 4th District, which included a small part of the original Cambodia Town plan.
After initial cooperation, Lowenthal said Richardson abruptly ceased contact.
"I made several attempts to work with (her office). ... Her draft was not shared with us," Lowenthal said. "I'm most disappointed that an opportunity to collaborate on the proposal was discarded. I firmly believe we would've had a better proposal had it involved and had sign-off of members who represent the area."
O'Donnell said it's too early to determine the boundaries for Cambodia Town and wants to see the city involved in gauging public sentiment for it.
"I'll support anything that benefits our city, but this is a significant proposal. It could be an economic engine, but it has to be vetted through a process. You just can't slap it down," O'Donnell said.
Peter Long, a board member of Cambodia Town Inc., said Richardson's sudden shift surprised him and others who thought the councilwoman was on board with their vision.
"It's not what we wanted, but it fits better with everyone," Long said. "At this point, we'll work with whatever we got right now. We don't have a lot of time to think about it."
Long is confident that the community will pull together to clean up the streets, create a neighborhood watch group, and possibly create a business improvement district. They already received $22,000 from private donors, and he said they don't expect any city funds.
During the six-month trial, Long said supporters will transform the area and show skeptics that a Cambodia Town benefits everyone. He hopes this will allow the corridor to expand at a later date.
Competing visions
A 27-member group, Cambodia Town Inc., asked the city to approve Anaheim Street from Atlantic Avenue to Junipero Avenue as Cambodia Town. Most of the group's members are Cambodian immigrants who work as professionals; the rest are leaders of black, Latino or Filipino organizations, as well as academic and civic leaders.
The group envisioned sprucing up the area and marketing it as a tourist destination by highlighting authentic Cambodian restaurants, clothing stores and art. They would install signs on both ends of the corridor that thanked visitors for stopping by and bid them farewell as they left. Signs on the Long Beach (710) and San Diego (405) freeways would also help direct traffic to the area, they said.
This version of the plan, dated Sept. 7, received support from council members Rae Gabelich, Lerch, Bonnie Lowenthal, Suja Lowenthal and Richardson.
An older version, begun more than five years ago, proposed an even larger area along Anaheim Street, from Long Beach Boulevard to Temple Avenue. But political resistance and infighting within the Cambodian community mired that version.
As the planning continued, some group members left, others remained and new leaders joined the effort.
One of the opponents, Brian Ben, is a longtime community leader and former head of Cambodian organizations. He was also a former staffer to Richardson and has served on city commissions.
He said the members of Cambodia Town Inc. don't have the authority to make decisions on behalf of a community that they left once they prospered financially and moved to safer neighborhoods, only to return to make a profit.
Ben said because he lives in the area, he's keenly aware of Cambodian-Latino relations that, he says, will further deteriorate if the city approves Cambodia Town.
"The war is going on. We (left) a killing field to come to another killing field," Ben said. "Everybody knows that the largest Cambodian population is in Long Beach ... There is no need to declare that."
He said the 200 area businesses and 4,000 residents who signed off in support of Cambodia Town did so because they do not know how it would affect their safety.
If anything, he said the street should be called an international corridor, reflecting the diversity of businesses and residents in the area, which include Vietnamese, Chinese and a large Latino population.
Ironically, Ben has pushed for a Little Phnom Penh designation (in deference to Cambodia's capitol), defending the plan as one that evokes cultural pride rather than nationalism that, he says, the name Cambodia Town elicits.
Long, a Cambodia Town Inc. member, said while it is true that most of the group's members do not currently live in Long Beach, many own businesses along Anaheim Street and still feel a strong connection to the community.
"Everybody is working as volunteers, and not all are businessmen. Some are professors, some don't have to be here. We went through really hard times, and we promised ourselves that we would give back to the community later," said Long, a Long Beach resident who chairs the Cambodian-American Chamber of Commerce.
Other members say some in the community object to any plan for which they cannot take credit.
"In every community, there are people who oppose everything," said Richer San, an advisory council member.
Conflict nothing new
Disunity among Cambodians, a small minority in the city and numbering about 44,000 in Los Angeles County, is nothing new. The community erupted in disagreement on the date of their annual parade, and, like many new immigrant groups, it struggles over who will legitimately speak for the community and its interests.
Raising the specter of increased racial violence is simply a red herring aimed at squashing community support through fear, organizers say. They don't think the area is prone to any more racially charged outbreaks than other parts of the region that have been recognized ethnic towns, such as Little Saigon, Koreatown or Chinatown.
ADD YOUR VOICE
What: Long Beach City Council meeting
When: 5 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Council Chambers, City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.
TV: Broadcast live on Charter Cable channel 8 and replayed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday
Internet: Live broadcast and previous council meetings available at www.longbeach.gov/cityclerk/council-online.asp
Long Beach Police Department's gang detail officers say Cambodia Town will not heighten racial violence among different gangs or ethnic groups.
"There's gang culture and there's culture culture. They're separated," police spokesperson Jason Wong said. "We have no reason to believe, and we do not anticipate, that there will be an increase in any tension between the Cambodian and Latino communities or an increase in gang tension."
Regardless of the outcome of Cambodia Town, its opponents say the process needs to start over and include them. They say the community needs to slow down and start by creating a business improvement district to clean up the area and then explore the possibility of something more.
"When the time comes, it'll come," Ben said. "What's the emergency?"
But supporters say they've been waiting long enough. They want to work with what the city may allow and prove to everyone, including naysayers among their own, that their vision of Cambodia Town was worth the fight.
Mira Jang can be reached at mira.jang@presstelegram.com
or at (562) 499-1278.
4 comments:
What is it with us Khmer and why do we always display our dirty laundry in public to show disunity. We can't even agree on how to show our Cultural in America with the suport of the American. We can't even get along in America, how are we going to get along back in Srok Khmer? This is the exact reason why we fall and our neighbors are able to divide and conqered us. We would prefer to have others dictate us than listen to out own countrymen. We killed our own people with impunity, but will serve a foreigners with our. We got a long way to go to learn and and give respect and appreciate ourselves. It's tough being Khmer sometimes, but gotta keep going because I can sense that there is still good in all of us to do good and for our people and our nation.
Oh please! This is not about dirty laundry or disunity! This is not about divide and conquer! This is not about carve out a small place called Cambodia Town and build walls around it! This is about acknowledging and sharing Cambodian people and culture with other nationality within the city of Long Beach at the same time bring in more businesses and attraction. Everyone is welcome!
This is the issues about transforming central city of Long Beach into a vibrant economic place. The goal is to highlight diversity within the city of Long Beach and to attract more businesses into Long Beach! There are many examples that had been done before Cambodia Town such as Korea Town, China Town, Thia Town, Little Tokyo, Little Siagon, Little Italy,...
There are so many benefits that come for having a name because it make easy for business people or tourists to find the place to invest or spend their money otherwise would be overlooked.
I agree with Mr. Richer San who is an advisory concil member that "In every community, there are people who oppose everything," Why would someone would want to oppose something that can bring more benefit to the City of Long Beach?
Some of these people who opposed the Cambodia Town used the gang issues and attached it to racial issue to dominate the economic issue, diversity issue, and the positive image issue for the city of Long Beach. I had heard there are alot of gangsters died in City of Long Beach not just Cambodian gangsters, but also Mexican gangsters, and Black gangsters...
So what is so special about the death of Cambodian gangsters? Many of these Cambodian gangsters are being deported anyway.
Remember, all gangsters are the same because they bring more crimes, drugs, and prostitutions to the community that they live in!
The gangsters never bring any peace or security to any communities and the law enforcement can help the City of Long Beach to overcome the gang problems and I had noticed that the Long Beach police had done a very good job in curbing the gang activites in the city of Long Beach.
Cambodian people have the chance to do many positive things for the City of Long Beach and by having Cambodia Town is one of them.
This is democracy at best among distraught Cambodians. Persuasion and information are keys to get thing done here. Don't fight in front of press that love to pick Cambodian bones from killing fields.
US helped made Killing fields but never wanted to heal but continuously pealed one advocate or activist at the time from reconciliatory closure.
Be your best in words and wit to win a stand in US politic.
Look around us, just standing still is left behind. Other are moving forward we have to catch up with others. We khmer don't do it other ethnic group we do it.
Post a Comment