By Bob Gelfand

An example from L.A.’s far shore proves that Neighborhood Councils have matured as effective political organizations.

The story is fairly simple: The Eastview Little League has been a fixture in northern San Pedro for many years, but it has been playing on land it doesn’t own. Recently the land's actual owner, the DiCarlo Bakery, was liquidated and the property was acquired by Target in order to build a store. For Eastview, the crisis was on. League parents looked for a new site, but in Los Angeles, open land is expensive and hard to find.

Eastview turned its eyes to the public sector in the hopes that government would come to the rescue. Allies were recruited from other youth-oriented groups and Councilwoman Janice Hahn was pressured unmercifully.

Hahn struggled to pull a rabbit from a very small hat, and finally came up with an idea: The Port of Los Angeles owns a vacant field on 22nd Street in the south end of San Pedro. Hahn decided that the Little League should take up temporary residence at the 22nd Street site.

There were several problems with this idea: First, the land is controlled by the Port of Los Angeles, a quasi-independent entity, and the field is already promised for something else. In fact, the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council and the Port have already agreed to turn the site into open parkland. Second, nobody really believed that the move would stay temporary. Third, the move wasn’t presented as a proposal, but as something akin to a royal decree. Hahn's representative Gordon Teuber came to the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council and said, “The councilwoman has decided.”

The council and its stakeholders were angered and shocked, but they were not rendered speechless. They chose to fight.

And here is where the deeper lesson becomes clear. In the past, any such resistance would have required the creation of a new ad hoc organization. But now, the Neighborhood Councils are in place, providing the forum and the organizational nucleus for civilized protest. The Coastal council made its opposition clear to the public, in the press, and to the port.

Hahn battled on studiously, even to the extent of circulating an email petition to drum up public support, but within a few day's time the game was over. At a contentious meeting last week, Hahn and her staff were rebuffed by the port and by neighborhood representatives. One day later, the port came to the rescue by finding other land for the league in another part of town.

The Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council has successfully defended its turf, the original 22nd Street plan is preserved, and the kids get their baseball fields. Had there been no Neighborhood Council, the process and the result would likely have been quite different. This little episode signifies a change in the way politics is practiced in Los Angeles, with the Neighborhood Councils stepping into the role of public protector. (Bob Gelfand is a long-time community activist and a member of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council.)