Nightmare on the Street of Dreams : But Diplomatic Compromise from Molina, Alatorre Lowers Olvera Tensions

Los Angeles City Council members Richard Alatorre and Gloria Molina are off to a good start in trying to resolve the painful family feud that has developed over the future of historic Olvera Street. If they keep it up, they can provide a model of cooperation that will not only help the Latino community, which understandably considers Olvera Street special, but all Los Angeles.

Given their past political differences and their potential future rivalries, it took a lot for Alatorre and Molina to swallow hard and find a compromise in the dispute over how Olvera Street should be refurbished. Both are closely aligned with different factions of the street’s merchants. Yet they came together at City Hall on Tuesday to persuade the council to vote 12-0 to override a decision by the city’s Recreation and Parks Commission to find a private developer to run Olvera Street. It was that decision that had sparked the latest flap in the long-running debate over the old tourist attraction.

The next step will be a tougher test of whether the council’s two Latinos can continue working together for the good of the entire city. Both agree Olvera Street needs fixing up. Both agree that an independent body appointed by the mayor and council would be better equipped to do the job than a private developer.

But Molina wants a public commission to do it while Alatorre favors a nonprofit corporation similar to the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. As a general rule, we tend to favor public commissions since their meetings, unlike those of corporations, are public under state law. In this case, it might be advisable to keep the process as open as possible simply to obviate the suspicions of many Olvera Street merchants and their supporters.

But one must keep an open mind and be prepared to compromise. In fact, it would be nice if everyone involved with the Olvera Street fight adopted the same attitude. Right now Alatorre and Molina seem to be doing that, and with them leading by example, the future of Los Angeles’ birthplace can finally be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.