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Marina del Rey was originally conceived as a giant park to provide recreation for the ten million citizens of Los Angeles County. How, then, did it change into what is largely a housing tract for a few thousand residents with an expanse of shopping malls? How did the 6,000 or so small boat slips get chopped to almost half?

The County has acquired the power to do what it wants with parking lots and inevitably a number of parking lots will be up for grabs. When the County announces its plans for further giveaways to private developers, message the County on your opposition, call your local State assemblyman and senator and write letters to newspapers.

The aim of this book is to arm you with the facts to make your protest more effective. Proceeds from book are dedicated to preserving and increasing recreational facilities in Marina del Rey.

Praise for the book...

Bruce Russell’s impeccable journalistic credentials lend themselves expertly to telling the story of the bureaucratic obfuscations of county politics, chicanery and greed by those who profited from the development of Marina del Rey. Russell’s wry sense of humor and keen observations strip away the veneer of pretense that has clouded the political and financial machinations over this prime locale, ostensibly as being in the public interest. Nothing could be further from the truth, and his concise explanation provides the stark details of how Marina del Rey has become Los Angeles County’s “bejeweled cash cow.”

— Helga Gendell, author of Snoopin’ Around: 

The Story of David  Asper Johnson and The Argonaut

Reviews:

May 12, 2014
I rate this lively little book with five stars. It delivers a lively and mostly accurate account of what happened to Marina del Rey from its inception to the present moment. The author gives a lively account of his illustrious career as a reporter and establishes the title Chinatown County as a parallel to the famous movie by that name involving corruption in Los Angeles City in the 1930’s. The Marina’s story begins in the 1950’s and the shysters who would corrupt the project are well documented in the newspapers by great reporting. But in the mid nineties, the media’s light began to dim. And most residents of the County and of Marina del Rey did not have a clue what was happening. What was happening was the County began not enforcing its ordinances for protecting scenic views and traffic density and special funds for recreational parks. The County and developers got bolder and bolder in flouting their laws as the press turned a blind eye. About ten years after this, we began to notice that the state of California evidenced the same disrespect for the rule of law, and now it has spread to the Federal Government. Russell’s lively book then is not just about MdR, but is a warning that what happened to us may happen to Yosemite National Park, to the honesty of local and national governments and to their respective legal professions. Daniel Henry Gottlieb Marina del Rey

Heron Wars Heat-up

(Excerpt from Chinatown County: The Sell-Out of Marina del Rey)

As this book was about to go to print, the County dropped another bombshell.

It planned to permit the refurbishing and lease extension on a village-style apartment complex on the picturesque northern side of the Marina inlet known as Mariner’s Village.

There was only one problem with this rebuilding scheme. This complex of 28 low-level residential units inset with gardens and bunches of tall trees is the last refuge of the Great Blue Heron in the Marina. By cutting down all the existing trees and undertaking a noisy rebuilding over ten years — herons don’t like noise — the project threatened to drive out the herons completely.

The birds’ troubles in the Marina began in 2000 with what became popularly known as the ‘heron wars’. The owners of the apartment block Villa Venetia across the waters on the southern side of the Marina inlet objected to the clucking sound the herons made during nesting and the layer of white guano manure it deposited on their roadways. But their main objection was that the herons stood in the way of their construction plans.

They tried to sneak in a tree cutting team early one morning. But from an upper level apartment in their building a heron lover was watching. When the tree cutters’ bulldozers arrived on the scene they were blocked by scores of opponents. One hardy protester even climbed a tree to force them to back off. Newspaper reporters and photographers turned up. State and County authorities were called in and an agreement was reached that there would be no cutting or trimming of trees in heron nesting season.

With a change of ownership and the fact that the heron wars story gradually lost its media pizzazz, the Villa Venetia was eventually able to get what it wanted. In two tree cutting events popularly known as “Chainsaw Massacre I” and “Chainsaw Massacre II” they succeeded in cutting down the rookery trees.

The nesting herons were driven out of the Villa Venetia area and took up residence in Mariner’s Village across the way, joining other herons who had been nesting at this site since the late 1980’s.
The brutal assault on the heron rookeries stirred an unfavorable public reaction. The California Coastal Commission took up the defense of the rookeries. A Commission official stated: “We are fully prepared to intervene if anyone pulls out their chainsaws.” In 2008 the Marina herons were given the very highest of wildlife protection under the California Coastal Act. Their nesting and roosting sites were designated as Endangered Species Habitat Areas (ESHA).

But in October 2011 after a new director took over at the Coastal Commission, an intense lobbying effort by the County and its lessees resulted in the ESHA protection being withdrawn.
In its place both County and lessees promised they would continue to support protections given to the herons.

Yet, as with most County undertakings, these promises were almost immediately broken. The heron wars were about to begin anew. Mariner’s Village soon after engaged in a stealth war of trimming trees and cutting out heron’s nests. One Mariner’s Village renter heard tree cutting being done at midnight. The plans that the owners of Mariner’s Village put to the the Marina Design Control Board in March 2014 called for the removal of every existing tree in the village.

To its everlasting credit, the Design Control Board unanimously rejected the Mariner’s Village plan and called for the lessees to come back with another plan which took into account public objections. But with the Design Control Board no longer in a position to impose its will, having been stripped of its initial review powers by the County in 2008, Marina residents expect that the County will rapidly lose patience with the Design Control Board and push through the Mariner’s Village proposals at a higher level.

Despite the setbacks the heron population has suffered — experts say nests in 2014 will probably be down by half from their peak — Marcia Hanscom, a leading heron supporter, remains eternally optimistic the County will recognize the importance of the herons as a wildlife tourist attraction and will move to protect their rookeries.

Helmsman

sailing near the breakwater