Tenants Begin Cleanup of Bryant-Vanalden Area

A group of Bryant-Vanalden tenants, who said they are determined to resist a city plan that could lead to their eviction, took up brooms, trash barrels and shovels Saturday to launch their own cleanup campaign at the run-down, crime-plagued Northridge apartment development.

At 10 a.m. a dozen tenants were sweeping the sidewalk at Bryant Avenue and Vanalden Street. At noon, about 20 more had joined them with worn kitchen brooms to sweep filthy carports.

At 12:30 p.m., 60 men, women and children were plowing down a main alley, whisking up piles of debris. And by 1 p.m., the little army was swooshing up shovel after shovel of gutter sludge on busy Parthenia Street, chanting in Spanish, “Are we going to keep our neighborhood clean? Yes!”

‘Our First Step’

“If we can clean up the trash and garbage from the gutter, then the police can come in and clean up the crime,” said Maria Morales. “This is our first step to show that we want to do our part to make things better.”

The campaign is part of a small but growing effort among the predominantly low-income Latinos who live in the Bryant-Vanalden apartments to organize tenant opposition to a proposed city neighborhood renewal plan that threatens to force them out of their homes.

The plan, which was given initial approval by the City Council on Aug. 7, would make it easier for landlords to evict tenants, renovate the units and transform the blighted area into a gated, middle-class neighborhood. It was proposed by Councilman Hal Bernson as way to eliminate the problems of crime and filth in an otherwise fashionable Northridge neighborhood.

No Early Opposition

When the proposal first came before the council, no one from the Bryant-Vanalden area spoke against the plan at City Hall. At the time, few residents seemed to know about the measure. Many of them are illegal immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador.

In 2 1/2 weeks, however, with prodding from several tenants rights organizations, a group of residents has formed Padres Unidos (United Parents) to fight the plan. On Monday, 200 people attended a meeting at nearby Napa Street Elementary School.

They vowed to form a crime watch group and begin a weekly neighborhood cleanup, which they launched Saturday. The meeting and cleanup marked the first time residents have spoken out about the conditions in the area.

Raul Morales, a shipping manager for a Los Angeles electronics firm, has emerged as the tenant leader. He said Saturday that Padres Unidos will meet again on Thursday to introduce a tenant committee.

‘We Are Willing’

“If we want to continue to live here, we have to show that we are willing to do what is needed to improve the situation,” Morales said as he handed trash bags to tenants. “The owners have the obligation to fix the property. The city will give more police and clean the streets if we can show we want it too.”

Angela Aragon, 49, a petite woman wearing a green dress and sturdy black shoes, stayed with the crew nearly three hours, sweeping foul-smelling gutters, bending to pick up bottles, a rotting corn cob and pieces of tires.

“I have lived in this country 12 years and in these apartments for six. Most of us, we keep our apartments, our porches clean,” Aragon said. “We are not dirty people, but there are serious problems here. I am speaking out for the first time because I want to stay here and make it a nice place.”

Neighbors Sign Petition

On Friday, neighbors of the complex delivered about 100 letters and a 500-signature petition to City Council offices in a show of support for the eviction and redevelopment plan.

Bonnie Siegal, who lives near the Bryant-Vanalden area and helped organize the letter-writing campaign, said Saturday that she was “thrilled” that the tenants want to clean the area but still favors the renewal plan.

“I appreciate what they are doing and I hope for the best for both the tenants and the neighbors,” Siegal said. “But I don’t think the cleanup is a guarantee that things will turn around. . . . I want something done.”