The Altadena Community Coalition — a group of mostly aggrieved Lincoln Crossing tenants — called a town meeting Friday that was various parts therapy session, conspiracy theorizing, denunciation of various parties (not the least of whom were Supv. Mike Antonovich and developer Dorn Platz), and history lesson.  It ended with a Frank Capraesque call for collective action and pledges of financial support.

The meeting was led by former Lincoln Crossing tenants Par Aria of Farm Fresh Market, Helga Kuhn of Bessie’s Daughter’s Soulful Tacos, and present tenant Bobby Thompson of BJR Postal Copy Center (pictured).  Each of them had a story about how they started with high hopes only to see them shattered by broken promises and undelivered services by Dorn Platz.

As the meeting had no agenda, it was quite unstructured and uncontrolled at times, and topics veered off in many directions. The tide turned after Pasadena attorney Philip Koebel decried the “victimization” talk, urging them to hire an attorney who knows the community and take the issues to court. Laura Graham of Altadena suggested that there was enough interest in the room that they could start action with what they have, and Ishmael Trone, co-chair of Pasadena’s Fair Oaks Project Area Committee gave an impassioned plea to commit to organize and collect money to begin.

At the end of the meeting, many pledged $100 or more apiece to fund the Coalition, and Kuhn said that the next meeting would be in a west Altadena location early next week.

The mailing address for the Altadena Community Coalition is 2230 Lincoln Ave., Box 300, Altadena 91001.