Molina, Alatorre Cooperate to Block Olvera Street Bids : City Hall: The two council members, who have been feuding over the revitalization project, joined in a 12-0 vote to void the request for development proposals.

Los Angeles City Council members Richard Alatorre and Gloria Molina tried to cool down their heated public quarrel over the future of Olvera Street on Tuesday by persuading their colleagues to attempt to block a request for bids to revitalize the tourist attraction.

In a rare show of unity on the politically explosive issue, the two Eastside politicians agreed during the regularly scheduled council meeting that the request for bids on the $30-million project approved last week by the city Parks and Recreation Commission was a mistake and should be voided.

Alatorre and Molina also agreed that jurisdiction over the Mexican marketplace should be taken away from the commission.

It was in that spirit that the two agreed, for the moment, to set aside their differences--which included a tense spat Monday during a council committee meeting--and voted to delay the request for development proposals.

The full council vote was 12 to 0.

“This doesn’t need to be a fight, Richard,” Molina said before the vote, looking across the council chamber at Alatorre. “. . . Because there should be unity. The reality is, when you build issues like this, you must build a consensus. And a consensus requires listening to everybody, not just one side.”

Then Molina, who favors creation of a new citizens commission to govern Olvera Street, told Alatorre, who favors a nonprofit corporation, that she would vote for his motion Tuesday seeking the nullification of last week’s commission action. She had introduced a similar proposal Tuesday.

“If you want to build for tomorrow, let’s start anew, Richard,” Molina said. “Let’s accept your motion, which is no different than my motion. Let’s accept your leadership on Olvera Street. But you must insure the protection of the goals of the people who are there.”

Alatorre, in whose council district Olvera Street is located, was equally as conciliatory.

“From the onset, my commitment has always been to the merchants and to preserving the historical integrity of that street,” he said.

“We can argue our (different) positions (to improve Olvera Street), but whatever comes out, it’s going to be the best thing for everybody concerned because the street is not just a street that is owned by the merchants.

“It’s a historical landmark that is owned by the people of the city of Los Angeles.”

The scene Tuesday was much different from Monday’s emotional showdown, when the two lawmakers argued over how best to accomplish the revitalization project--the citizens commission or the nonprofit corporation.

Both politicians were on a collision course after they expressed unhappiness over different aspects of last week’s parks commission vote.

Molina was upset that the commission, without public input, dismantled a carefully crafted compromise that would have allowed groups of merchants to buy up to a 50% interest in the upgrading project.

Alatorre, on the other hand, disagreed with the commission’s decision to include the restoration of Italian Hall, a former meeting hall for people with Italian roots that is now used as a storage area, as part of the project.

The revitalization issue, fueled by fears that Olvera Street could lose its quaint Mexican flavor because of the project, prompted wild rumors and speculations that pitted Molina and her supporters against Alatorre’s.

Most prominent among those was the charge that Alatorre would use his influence to give the project to The East Los Angeles Community Union, a controversial Eastside developer that was forced several years ago to refund federal monies because of spending abuses and irregularities.

Alatorre, who has received political and financial support from TELACU, has denied that.

Some Eastside politicos were hopeful late Tuesday that Olvera Street’s future could now be discussed in a more constructive manner.

“This crap of Mexican arguing against Mexican has got to stop,” said one Eastside insider, who asked that his name not be used. “I hope Richard and Gloria, and I love them both, will be more gracious about this. If they don’t, que lastima (what a pity). . . .”

Despite that sentiment, the two council members are unlikely to become allies over the issue. That much seemed evident after the council action, when the two met separately with reporters to push their own proposals to save Olvera Street.

They did not acknowledge each other, speaking not a word, as they met in a crowd of reporters assembled to hear their comments.

Molina said her proposed citizens’ commission was ideally suited to govern Olvera Street, because it would maximize public scrutiny, something Alatorre’s nonprofit corporation might preclude.

Alatorre disagreed, contending that a nonprofit group could have all the public scrutiny the council wanted it to have. It would also prevent anyone with financial interest in Olvera Street from getting an advantage from participation in such a group, he said.

The apparent move to take jurisdiction away from the parks commission is not likely to meet with any opposition from its members, said Commission President J. Stanley Sanders.

“Our attitude is, let the independent group have at it,” he said. “It may be a slap in the face . . . (but) we’re comfortable with the decision we made.”