It irks the hell out of me that a street in LA was renamed after L. Ron Hubbard. The street I am talking about is Berendo St. In 1996, part of Berendo St. was renamed L. Ron Hubbard Way. With "Going Clear" making the rounds and with all the pending lawsuits, new books on the horizon and the cult of Scientology's shrinking numbers, it's time to bring Berendo St.'s name back. There was a recent article written on this very subject: How Los Angeles Ended Up Geting An 'L. Ron Hubbard Way' The Los Angeles Times dug into the archives to figure out what was going on when the city agreed to rename that short stretch next to the Scientology building in Hollywood. It happened in 1996, and while there was dissent, it sounds like it was pretty muted. The Council President at the time John Ferraro, represented the area and managed to convince seven others to vote in favor of the proposal. One councilman Richard Alatorre defended the church: "The fact of the matter is, this is the leader of this church that has been a long-standing member of the community. They are involved in positive work--they have a lot of members." Some of the council members trumpeted the church's anti-drug and anti-graffiti work, and a reverend from South Los Angeles showed up to talk up the Church's literacy programs in the inner city. Councilman Richard Alarcon, who last year was convicted of fraud and perjury, offered up this tepid defense: "We have, literally, thousands and thousands of streets named for people, most of whom I have no idea who they are." One of the dissenting members at the time was current city attorney Mike Feuer. Neither Feuer nor any of the dissenting members spoke out, though councilwoman Ruth Galanter did later explain why she didn't vote for the name change: "I believe that L. Ron Hubbard was a manipulative [and] dishonest [man]. He's a cult leader. We don't name streets after cult leaders." - snipped - the end of the article: "A representative from then-mayor Richard Riodan reportedly said, "The work on this street and its beauty have been inspired by the Church’s founder, author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. His humanitarian works are contributing greatly to helping eradicate illiteracy, drug abuse and criminality in the city of Los Angeles." Comments are open: http://laist.com/2015/03/31/l_ron_hubbard_way_scientology.php Bring Berendo back. You can write letters and request to change it back and mention "Going Clear", human rights abuses, pending lawsuits etc… Maybe someone who is namefagged can start a petition? Gather names on the street? Make "Bring Back Berendo" t- shirts? Flyers? Write more articles like the one above and get the neighborhood involved. IDK. I just think it's time. Thoughts? Ideas? Game plans? Plan of Action? Go DIAF?
I think it would be better to rename it after someone whom LRH hated, or who taught the opposite of what he taught. No ideas though. And of course, that would have to be a name that would be popularly supported too.
I have to disagree. Although renaming it something that Hubbard would have hated and it would be lulzy, it sounds too "catty". And you also want to be taken seriously. I think it is important to bring the original name back.
Paulette Way? Cooper Avenue (nice ring to that)? Nib's Street? Armstrong Alley? Mayo Way? MacFearson Blvd.? Lisa's Place?
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=96-1338 Council File: 96-1338 TitleDoc Date Council File Documents 10/15/1996 Final Ordinance No. 171307 10/09/1996 Title RON HUBBARD Subject Req Ccl consider requested name change of Berendo St bet Sunset Blvd & Fountain Ave to L. Ron Hubbard Way. Date Received / Introduced07/12/1996Last Changed Date11/01/1996Initiated by Public Works: Engineering File History 7-15-96 - For ref 7-17-96 - Ref to PW Comt 7-18-96 - File to Ferraro OK 8-12-96 - File to PW Comt Clk 10-1-96 - Mo ADOPTED to approve communication rec from PW Comt, notwithstanding the rec of the City Eng: 1. FIND that the public interest, convenience and necessity require the subj name change. 2. CHANGE the name of Berendo Street between Sunset Blvd and Fountain Avenue, and ESTABLISH it as L. Ron Hubbard Way. 3. PRESENT & ADOPT the accompanying Ord effectuating such change and establishment - Ord over one week to 10-8-96 10-8-96 - Ord ADOPTED 10-8-96 - File to Mayor for signature FORTHWITH 10-16-96 - File to Bureau of Eng - Dev Services Div - Attn: Frank Bonoff 11-4-96 - File in files
Reasons for changing Berendo St. to L Ron Hubbard Way according to the COS (from the pdf file) "to honor and recognize humanitarian and philosopher L. Ron Hubbard as the founder of the Church of Scientology and for his altruistic contributions to society. These include: an education technology that has been used by millions of children and adults alike to help them learn and to increase their ability to apply what they learn to life; a non-religious moral code,"The Way to Happiness", of which 50 million copies have been distributed in 50 countries in 18 languages, has provided guidance, reduced crime and rehabilitated criminals; and a drug rehabilitation technology that has gotten over 100,000 people completely off drugs." HOLY CRAP! So basically, the COS LIED through their teeth of course!
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS BUREAU OF ENGINEERING 1149 S. Broadway, Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90015-2213 All phone numbers and departments: http://eng.lacity.org/apps/address_list/contact_list.pdf
