Altadena Not For Sale!

Margaret Mead’s adage personified

“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king; the palace instead becomes a circus.” — Turkish proverb.

On a macro level, the world is aghast at our country’s palace full of rogues, thieves, liars and nasty people, led by someone who probably has dementia or, at the very least, sociopathic levels of narcissism. On a micro level, the scorched communities of Altadena and the Palisades have their own clowns to contend with: capitalist scavengers. They are flitting about, looking to pounce on traumatized folks who’ve lost their homes — and often their livelihoods — during one fateful January night. Shame on them. Yes, some capitalists aren’t greedy; one way to tell is that they usually don’t show up after a disaster.

To counter these parasites, we have a modest, passionate, and thoughtful hero: Melissa Michelson, the lead organizer of “Altadena Not For Sale!”

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Melissa of Altadena Not For Sale! (ANFS) personifies that statement. Melissa is a force of nature, one that is constructive rather than destructive, like our recent wildfires. A long-time community organizer and San Gabriel Valley citizen, she’s the right person at the right time to fend off the predatory practices of corporate and greedy investors. The “vultures” started circling Altadena even before the body was cold. They practice Shock Capitalism, a detestable technique of manipulating vulnerable people right after cataclysmic devastation happens, whose thinking is muddled because they’re in shock.

“How did you start ANFS?” I asked Melissa. “After the fire, I saw a truck barreling past the barriers that the National Guard had set up to keep residents from returning to their properties with ‘Altadena Not For Sale!’ written on its side.” Melissa was moved to follow the truck and discovered it was driven by Gabriela, who was exceedingly shy yet passionate about keeping Altadena safe from predators. Gabriela had lost her home and business, but after she replaced her printing equipment, she and Melissa started printing signs and T-shirts with “Altadena Not For Sale!” on them.

The signs, buttons, and bumper stickers are produced with virtually no markup: once I heard about ANFS, I promptly bought three signs and three buttons.

I was impressed with the signs’ placement — Melissa sticks them in the ground herself. “I take great care, making sure I’ve got the best placement and angles.” I found that to be true for our property. We have a large, prominent corner on Altadena Drive, and I could tell it wasn’t slap-dash, willy-nilly by her placement. I’ve placed signs there myself, especially while fighting the attempted Polytechnic land grab in the Altadena foothills, miles from the actual campus. We defeated them, citing, of course, the fire hazards presented by the inevitability of newly-driving teens tossing cigarette butts out into the high chaparral. As they say, the Eaton fire was proof in the so-called pudding.

Sadly, some of Altadena is for sale. Each time I go back, I see a new For Sale sign. Frankly, I don’t blame some folks for selling: it’s daunting even to consider jumping through the dozens of flaming hoops of the three, if not five-ring circus that is rebuilding.

And that’s where Melissa and her ANFS community advocacy team come in. They help residents see that there are alternatives to selling to dirty, rotten scoundrels and getting fair market value. Really.

A “think outside the box” example from ANFS literature is that property owners can sell to Community Land Trusts (CLTs), entities that purchase, sell, and own properties on behalf of communities. They protect land for the people, not for profit.

These non-profits buy properties and hold them until vetted buyers — often other community members — are ready. Several organizations, such as Greenline Housing Foundation, are getting underway in the area. A CLT could even buy a property to turn into a playground or pocket park. That’s thinking outside the box for most people.

Do you want to go farther outside the box? Literally and figuratively, the CalEarth campus in Hesperia has models of structures that don’t have a box shape or square corners anywhere. I walked into those structures and felt embraced by Mother Earth. All the shapes are feminine: arches, domes and curves made from the earth under our feet. If you’re considering a rebuild but don’t think you can stretch resources far enough, consider CalEarth. If you can’t make it to Hesperia, CalEarth’s Dastan Khalili will speak at the Altadena Library on Monday, May 12, from 5:00–7:00 p.m. He and his sister Sheefteh are carrying on the legacy their visionary father, Nader, created for low-cost, easy-to-build, climate disaster-proof dwellings. Save the date!

My husband Ken and I will be climate-proofing our home by building a CalEarth-style SuperAdobe using our very own soil. We will quickly and affordably build a beautiful, exceedingly safe, unconventional, and highly entertaining home… one that may look like a circus to some but will suit us just fine. I love that our materials will not be subject to tariffs unless the clowns in this administration figure out a way to penalize earth and sandbags. Meanwhile, the local speculator clowns can kiss my dirt!

If you’re interested in my online creative writing class, email me. Many of you have also asked if there is a GoFundMe campaign to help us recover from the devastating loss of our home and possessions. The answer is yes! You can donate here.