Looting Hawaiian Gardens Press Conference Statement by Walter McKinney by Walter McKinney, Former Chief of Police , City of Hawaiian Gardens Originally published 10 July 2000 in general release The JLAC report begins to capture the remarkable chronology of almost two decades of political power struggles and manipulation of the riches - albeit small in proportion to the players - of a small village-like community whose collective main purpose is to successfully manage day-to-day life through hard work, strong family and neighborly relations nurtured with an unyielding dedication to spirituality. The Hawaiian Gardens community has been dealt a powerfully dehumanizing blow with respect to sovereignty, where the good natured desire to build a strong viable and sustainable community outweighed personal interests and where the positive community leaders over the years were thrust into decision points that preyed upon the naivet of the collective community with respect to working with the internationally politically savvy whose motives and goals were not always patent. This incorporated community and its leadership have always wanted the best for the City, suffering from so many negative perceptions due to its low-income impoverished state, that decision-making in the matters related to the Gateway Redevelopment Project has been clouded at times from careful business practices, in order to maintain the dream of a major long-term commercial development that would likely support the community in its endeavors far into the future. In summation, I have the utmost respect for the work of the JLAC and its staff and I eagerly anticipate that this document will spawn greater inspection by appropriate Federal, State and Local agencies and that appropriate and affirmative action he taken to right-the-wrongs and return local decision-making authority to this community and its politic corporate - The City of Hawaiian Gardens. READ THE OTHER STATEMENTS FROM THE JLAC PRESS CONFERENCE Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak | Rabbis Steven Jacobs and Jerry Goldstein | Walter McKinney | Mina K. Meyer | Sharon Raphael View all articles © 2003 design by elbop for the Coalition for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem