United Methodist Church vs. L.A. City Hall

When the City of Los Angeles began lease negotiations with a historic church on Olvera Street, parishioners never imagined it would come to this. Even in an era when government officials are increasingly under pressure to pinch every penny until it squeaks, the city seems determined to squeeze church members out of the pews and onto the streets.

Exhibit A: The city's latest draft of the leasing contract forbids church members from collecting money. That appears to mean no passing of collection plates during Sunday worship. No passing the hat during Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and, probably, no future for the La Plaza United Methodist Church, which first opened its massive wood doors in 1926.

"Their fear is that we're going to make money and stick around," says Leonora Barron of La Plaza church, "and they don't want us to stick around."

Some involved in the negotiations believe that Robert Andrade, the obscure city employee who is general manager of the city-controlled El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Authority, wants to redevelop Olvera Street, with its old-fashioned vendor stalls filled with ponchos, postcards and other trinkets, into a CityWalk/Grove/Americana hybrid, with chain stores and deep pockets to cover higher rents collected by the city.

Andrade oversees the city-owned 44-acre Olvera Street tourist area, which includes the Methodist Church, Pico House, six museums, restaurants and dozens of tiny stalls offering souvenirs. The El Pueblo Board of Commissioners — all political appointees of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — and Andrade have the power to dictate what happens within the borders of the expansive, pedestrian-friendly site across from Union Station downtown.

Andrade says he can't understand what all the fuss is about. He claims that he, Mayor Villaraigosa and District 14 Councilman Jose Huizar want the congregation to stay and pray in the church and also run a church museum filled with church and Olvera Street memorabilia.

Andrade says the city attorney has come up with a use agreement that charges the church a nominal fee to use the city's church for worship or religious ceremonies. He said the city has to charge the church something because "there needs to be a separation of church and state."

Andrade doesn't get why parishioners think he's outlawed the collection plate, which he flatly denies. But, in fact, the use agreement the city attorney offered church representatives specifically nixes any monetary collections.

Naturally, church members have interpreted that to mean collection plates are verboten. Though parishioners paint him as a cross between Snidely Whiplash and the Invisible Man, in a rare interview, Andrade sounds judicious: "If they want a donation box, that's up to them. There is going to have to be some fundraising."

Mistrust between the church people and the bureaucrats is deepening during lengthy negotiations over the future of the church and its land.

"Robert Andrade has grandiose plans for our church," insists Barron, a negotiator representing the church. "It's like Andrade is saying, 'We'll teach you!' and 'You have to do what we say because we're the city!' Andrade and the city are trying to wear us down so we'll sign."

But what are the city's intentions at Olvera Street? When presented with a California Public Records Act request from L.A. Weekly, asking for emails and documents about the church negotiations as well as Andrade's job description and pay, Mike Dundas of the City Attorney's Office improperly withheld much of it. Among other things, Dundas erroneously claimed a court ruling lets City Hall refuse to release its communications with the church, and Dundas wrongly blacked out cellphone numbers and email addresses.

Dundas cited a California court ruling that "while a public agency is negotiating an agreement with a third party, the public interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest."

"Wrong," says Terry Francke, an expert on public records law and chief counsel for Californians Aware. "The case law [Dundas] referred to applies to a city's negotiations" when seeking proposals from "several competing contractors." Any documents passing between the city and church are public, Francke says, and Dundas was also plainly "wrong" in redacting phone and email information.

City leaders have in the past said they want the ornate church — across a courtyard from the Historic Monument's large, open-air, pedestrian-friendly entertainment plaza — to turn a profit for the city.

The latest offer from the city goes like this: If the church agrees to pay rent of $240 a month, the city will let parishioners use the church for four hours on Sunday.

City officials also demand the church stay open to the public during religious services, weddings, funerals and baptisms, so tourists can observe the rituals. And the city wants any church member who holds a wedding, funeral or other religious service to pay market-rate rental fees to the city — something the church has never done, La Plaza Methodist attorney Byron Hayes says.

"We can't operate a church under these conditions," Hayes says. "This deal inhibits our ability to raise funds for this enterprise."

As for charging members market rent, "We don't charge church members to hold a wedding or funeral or an AA meeting," Hayes says. "Offering church space to our parishioners at no cost is part of what we do."