Protect Plummer Park Activists Upset Over Duran's 'Gratitude' Comment

City officials addressed the again at Monday night’s Council meeting.

During opening comments, Mayor John Duran chastised residents who have been speaking out against the planned . Duran said at this time of year, they should be expressing gratitude instead of complaining. He advised looking at the situation as one of abundance rather than scarcity.

“We actually have the ability to do capital improvements at a time when many cities are looking at layoffs, many cities are cutting back programs, many cities are shuttering libraries, closing parks,” Duran said. “The City of Vallejo is in bankruptcy, the City of San Jose has laid off half of its work force and, oh my god, the City of West Hollywood actually has the audacity to do capital improvements.”

Duran said that the bonds to renovate the park have already been taken out and can’t be canceled without severe penalty. Therefore, he advised people to work together to figure out ways to improve the park since the money will be spent on park improvements.

“The east side of the city is as important as the west side, the east side of the city is as deserving of investment as the west side,” Duran said.

He criticized the Protect Plummer Park activists for misrepresenting the city’s role in the planned renovations. 

“We’re not destroying Plummer Park, we’re not uprooting seniors and throwing the Russians out and scaring away the children,” Duran said. “That’s kind of the way it s being framed.”

were angered by his comments, saying he is misunderstanding what they are protesting.

“We’re not against doing renovations. Yes, please do renovations, please make improvements,” activist told Weho Patch after the meet. “But don’t cut down all the 100-year-old trees and don’t demolish the wonderful old buildings to build an underground parking garage. That is what we are protesting.”

Protect Plummer Park activists were also upset about the way they were treated during the public comment time at the beginning of the meeting. Several Russian-speaking residents came with an English translator to speak against the park renovations, but were not called on to speak until the end of the meeting at 9 p.m.

“They got here at 5:45 p.m. They were the first to sign up [to speak during public comment],” Harker said. “[Duran] didn’t call on them until the end [of the meeting] and they’d already gone home by that point.”

According to City Clerk Corey Schaffer, the mayor can call on people for public comment in any order that he chooses. He is not required to call on people in the order in which the public comment slips are received. 

Also at the meeting, City Manager Paul Arevalo promised that city staff is still exploring other options for the park renovations and will bring those options to the council before any groundbreaking is done.

But Arevalo also took time to defend aspects of the existing plan. He pointed out that the underground parking would add 69 spaces to the park and also adds an acre of green space to the park, noting how expensive it is to buy land in the city. 

Arevalo also defended the planned remodel of Fiesta Hall, which will see a futurist roof added outside.

“The designs [for Fiesta Hall] are somewhat spectacular, somewhat aggressive,” Arevalo said. “When we did the design, we thought that the eastside did deserve outstanding architecture . . . something that would be memorable.”

Arevalo reported that city staff has been approaching people in the park, trying to explain the upcoming changes. He also said that beginning with the Dec. 5 council meeting, there will be an information table in the lobby with city staff there to answer questions about Plummer Park.

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