Pact Reached on Olvera St. Future Starts to Unravel

No sooner had an agreement been reached to end the bickering over the future of Olvera Street then a new dispute surfaced between two prominent Latino politicians--Rep. Edward R. Roybal and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre--that threatens the truce.

At issue is whether Olvera Street’s 77 merchants can link up with a developer of their choosing and bid on the long-awaited city modernization project to spruce up the popular but aging tourist spot just north of the Civic Center.

Initially, merchants said they were worried that the renovation would go to a developer who would allow them little or no say in the project and who might evict them. Most of them have been on the street since its founding in 1929.

The merchants said they were suspicious that the East Los Angeles Community Union, which has strong ties to Alatorre, would be chosen for the project and would turn it into an “overly commercialized Mexican Disneyland,” according to Vivien Bonzo, president of the Olvera Street Merchants Assn.

With Roybal (D-Los Angeles), Mayor Tom Bradley, Alatorre and others, a compromise was struck last month. Under the pact, the merchants would be offered a chance to become part owners of the project. They would also get relocation costs while their shops and restaurants were being renovated, and a study the merchants commissioned two years ago would become the blueprint for the remodeling.

But the agreement, hammered out in the days before the April 11 municipal primary election, started unraveling this week in a dispute over whether the compromise precluded the merchants from also bidding for the project itself.

Roybal, patriarch of local Latino politicians, favors allowing the merchants to bid on the project to preserve the street’s historical and cultural integrity. He cited a city attorney’s opinion that said there was nothing that precluded the merchants from being chosen as developer for the project.

But Alatorre, in whose district Olvera Street is located, contends that there is no need to let the merchants bid on the project because the compromise would allow them to have some control over it.

Eastside observers said the project could have started as early as next year, but the fallout from the new dispute throws that timetable into doubt.

“This blows the deal and will delay the work that Olvera Street desperately needs,” one Latino insider said Friday.

Alatorre chose his words carefully when asked about the dispute.

“The bidding is not in the understanding that we negotiated,” Alatorre said. “This could be a whole different ballgame.”

Bidding Proviso

Roybal, reached at his Washington office, said although the bidding proviso was not written into the agreement, it was clearly understood by everyone who was party to the pact, including Alatorre, that the merchants would be allowed to bid for the project.

“I’m sorry that Richard doesn’t agree or like the idea,” the veteran congressman said, “but as far a I’m concerned, it’s in the agreement.”

The agreement was seen as a way to end the rancor that has dogged the Olvera Street project since the discussions over improvements were initiated in 1987. While attracting nearly 2 million visitors a year, the Mexican-theme tourist marketplace has fallen on hard times because of deteriorating buildings, a lack of parking and rising crime in the area.

Roybal, a longtime supporter of the merchants, called on Bradley to push a compromise earlier this month. The merchants’ concerns were so important to Roybal that he insisted on Bradley’s support before he would endorse the mayor for reelection, Roybal said.

Mayoral endorsements by his daughter, Assemblywoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), and City Councilwoman Gloria Molina were also tied to the mayor’s support of the merchants, he said.

“I wanted to have a news conference of elected public officials to make an endorsement of the mayor,” Roybal said, “but this had to be resolved first.”

Left unresolved was the merchants’ demand that they be allowed to bid for the project.

Advice Sought

Roybal said he telephoned the mayor early this month about it, and Bradley asked the city attorney’s office for advice on the question. A few days later--just before the election--the city attorney issued an opinion that said no conflict of interest would exist if the merchants who purchased equity in the project were also chosen as developer.

The situation has Alatorre fuming.

“It was clear since the beginning that they weren’t interested in bidding on the development itself,” Alatorre contended. “They were more interested in an equity position. We put (in) the 50% equity clause to insure that they wouldn’t be thrown into the cold.”