Are the Mount Washington Association and Friends of Southwest Museum Headed For a Clash?

The Mount Washington Association and Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition might be headed for a clash, with a leader in each of the two local organizations at the center of the fracas.

According to a post by the Mount Washington Association last week on the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council mailing list, the MWA is demanding that the Southwest Museum Coalition behave in a civil and respectful manner and that it be open to “reasonable dialogue” as well as the “consideration of differing opinions.”

The immediate cause for the MWA post is an alleged remark that Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition co-chair Daniel Wright made at a recent meeting of the coalition during which he was evidently asked some questions about how the coalition works in pursuit of its goal to save the Southwest Museum.

According to MWA President Pilar Buelna, Wright allegedly called the Mount Washington Association, one of the founding members of the Southwest Museum Coalition, a “skank,” which Buelna described as a “very derogatory term, particularly for women.” 

The Urban Dictionary defines skank as a “derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness.” The words, adds the dictionary, “may also imply promiscuity, but not necessarily,” and “can apply to any race, but [is] most commonly used to describe white trash.”

Buelna told Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch that Wright allegedly used the slur at a Southwest Museum Coalition meeting before the Fourth of July. Although she was not at the meeting, Buelna said, her husband Gabriel, who is part of the coalition, was present, and it was he who queried Wright about the coalition.

“More than upset, I’m really disappointed and disheartened because we want to move forward and try to negotiate a good outcome for the Southwest Museum with the Autry [National Center],” Buelna said. “But how can we move forward if Dan is publicly prepared to degrade our association, which has over 400 members and wants to have a voice for everyone who’s on board to keep the Southwest Museum in our community.”

Added Buelna: "We want the [Southwest Museum] Coalition to know that, with Dan as a co-chair, can he really represent all of us? Do we want him gone? No—he has been a good advocate [for the cause of the museum]. Do we want to move forward? Yes—we want all of us to move forward."

Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch contacted Wright for a comment about Buelna’s allegation. Wright, a Mount Washington-based lawyer who represents the Southwest Museum Coalition in its legal tussle to prevent the Autry National Center’s proposed $6.9-million expansion through state funds, said he has been too busy lately with legal proceedings regarding another preservationist cause in Hollywood and has not had a chance to review the MWA’s post on the ASNC Yahoo Groups electronic mailing list.

“At the moment, I don’t have anything to comment,” Wright said. 

For her part, Mount Washington Association President Buelna conceded that “we haven’t been terribly involved in the movement” to save the Southwest Museum but that “now we’re calling our members to re-energize and focus” on the common goal of keeping the museum and its artifacts within the community. 

And while the MWA is open to a dialogue with the Autry over the issue of coming to an agreement over the future of the Southwest Museum, “we want the hurtful dialogue to end within our community,” Buelna said. 

“There is a long history on the hill with a group of leaders who have fallen out over the years regarding negotiations with the Autry,” Buelna said, partly referring to Northeast Los Angeles community members who haven’t always seen eye to eye in their clash with the Autry leadership over its alleged failure to live up to the 2002 merger agreement that gave the Autry control of the Southwest Museum's massive and valuable collection. Community members hoped the merger would lead to a revival of the historic but financially struggling Southwest Museum.

Instead, say the community members, the Autry has neglected the Southwest Museum, arguing that its building needs $21 million for repairs and that it’s therefore more sensible and expedient to use state funds to expand the Autry’s Griffith Park campus. The Los Angeles City Council approved the Autry's state grant funded $6.9 million expansion plan on June 21, following a month of bitter debate between the Southwest Museum Coalition and Autry leadership.

“There’s some residue—hurt feelings—that prevents them from moving forward, and I think Dan [Wright] is a bit stuck in the past,” Buelna said, referring to various community leaders who have tried to save the Southwest Museum over the years and some of whom are still actively engaged in the endeavor.

Here is the Mount Washington Association’s complete post on the ASNC mailing list—an expanded version of which is also available for viewing on the MWA’s latest newsletter, which is attached:

"The Mount Washington Association (MWA) was formed in 1952 for the purpose of improving the community of Mt. Washington. Around 2003, the MWA was one of the founding members of the Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition. The community gathered a number of organizations and they had one collective goal in common. That goal was to save the Southwest Museum.

"The MWA along with other leadership members of the Coalition, met once a week, at 8 AM, for two years, with John Gray, the previous Chief Executive Officer of the Autry National Center. That group attempted to reconcile the differences between the Autry and the community in regard to the SWM building and the Museum's artifacts. The goal was simple: "To save the SWM and make it a vibrant public destination." The MWA still supports this goal.

"The MWA remained in Coalition leadership through two subsequent attempts to bridge the differences.

"Around 2005, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked the City of Los Angeles' Human Relations Commission to chair a negotiation between the Coalition leadership and the Autry—to no avail. In 2007, City Council member Josè Huizar appointed a Blue Ribbon Committee that included the Autry, representatives of surrounding communities, and members of the local Native American community. This group met for an additional two years—again, to no avail.

"The MWA stopped attending Coalition meetings in the hope that some resolution would be forthcoming under the current SWM Coalition leadership. However, the MWA also knew that, when there were different points of view in our community, the Coalition would respond negatively to these opinions. The MWA has remained a member of the Coalition and has even published articles with varying points of view in our newsletter. The MWA's membership in the Coalition and the MWA's desire to save the SWM has remained constant.

"Last week, the MWA discovered that Dan Wright called the MWA a vulgar word. The MWA asks the leadership of the SWM Coalition for the following:
• CIVILITY • RESPECTFUL BEHAVIOR AND WORDS
• INCLUSION AND TRANSPARENCY AT LEADERSHIP MEETINGS
• REASONABLE DIALOGUE AND DISCOURSE AND
• THE ALLOWING OF AND CONSIDERATION OF DIFFERING OPINIONS.

"Further, the MWA would like clarity on the role of Dan Wright in the leadership of the SWM Coalition.

"Ann Walnum has indicated to us that Mr. Wright is the attorney for the Coalition. Is he, in fact, the attorney (either paid or pro bono) for the Coalition or is he a member of the leadership of the Coalition? In the event that Mr. Wright is the attorney for the Coalition, the MWA requests that he comply with ethical attorney standards and refrain from inappropriate name-calling.

"As an association, the MWA now reactivates our participation in the SWM Coalition. As part of our continued interest in saving the Southwest Museum and making it a premiere Los Angeles public destination, we would like to purchase 30 tickets to the Coalition's annual soda-pop-tasting event.

"We call on MWA members to become active in the SWM Coalition for the purpose of developing a sane settlement agreement so we can find a way to maintain and preserve this precious historic community resource for generations to come.

"Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Mount Washington Association by the Board, Pilar Buelna, President, Mount Washington Association."