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Petition to the City of Beverly Hills and the City of West Hollywood on behalf of the Beverly Hills Lions Club & Foundation and the West Hollywood Lions Club

April 1, 2020 update:

It is unbelievable that the Beverly Hills City Council approved to lease/sell the Log Cabin without a transparent public procurement process to the City of West Hollywood for $5,750,000 while the West Hollywood Lions Club offered $8,000,000.

Even more concerning that the agreement includes additional financial incentives in case the building is redeveloped. The West Hollywood Lions Club offered to preserved the building. I'm heartbroken as the West Hollywood Lions Club owned and managed the Log Cabin for the past 83 years in the service of the community.

Thank you John Mirisch for voting no.

The City of West Hollywood is planning to sublet the building to the West Hollywood Recovery Center. We hope they change their mind and sublease it to the West Hollywood Lions Club.

The decision was made after midnight, following a more than nine hour long session. John Mirisch asked why was this on the agenda as when the 25 items were identified for today's session, this was not selected. He also asked to continue it on the next meeting. Others did not reply, just voted yes...

Original petition

Please sign this petition to secure the long-term fate of the Log Cabin by keeping management of the Cabin the with West Hollywood Lions Club

History

Since 1936, the Log Cabin at 621 N Robertson Blvd in West Hollywood has been managed by the Lions Club in the service of the community. It hosted the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of America and other groups. We began hosting sobriety groups in 1948. As a magical place in the busy city, the Log Cabin has saved over 100,000 lives. The Cabin has been owned by the West Hollywood Lions Club for 83 years, which is situated on a lot leased from the City of Beverly Hills.

The Problem

On January 10, 2020, the City of Beverly Hills requested that the West Hollywood Lions Club remove the Log Cabin and vacate the land by March 31, 2020. The City of Beverly Hills plans to lease or sell the land to the City of West Hollywood who plans to sublease it to the West Hollywood Recovery Center (WHRC). The current proposed agreement includes a section that states, in case West Hollywood would redevelop the site it would pay 50% of the future value of the land to Beverly Hills.

The Main Questions

• Why does this language exist for the possibility of redeveloping the land?
• Why would West Hollywood spend over $5M on purchasing the land when the money could be spent on the COVID-19 emergency related efforts? There is no urgency to change the status quo. The money could be spent on people in need.
• Whose interest is it to change the ownership or the management of the Cabin?
• Even in the case of changing the land ownership, why would the City of West Hollywood sublease to the WHRC instead of the Lions Club?

Solution

By signing this petition please support the request that the City of Beverly Hills reinstate the lease to the West Hollywood Lions Club allowing us to continue managing the building as we did for the past 83 years. With your support we can preserve the Cabin forever!

As our continued commitment to the community, the West Hollywood Lions Club will:

• continue to keep the Cabin affordable. All the income from the Property will be used to maintain the Property.
• cooperate with the West Hollywood Recovery Center to optimize the available space to the benefit of the community.
• serve as the central location for the Greater Los Angeles Lions
• complete the Historic Building application process with the support of Beverly Hills
• address the findings of the architecture inspections arranged by the City of Beverly Hills
• increase the security of the building by installing a keycard system and hiring a dedicated site manager
• work with the sobriety groups and other stakeholders to determine the optimal internal changes so visitors feel that the spirit of the Cabin is not changed

Additional background

During the past couple months Beverly Hills realized that the community supports the preservation of the Cabin, so they stated that they want to find a solution and they no longer want it demolished. The easiest solution for them would be to reinstall the lease with the Lions Club.

The annual lease used to be $1 per year. Although the initial lease expired on July 1, 1977 the West Hollywood Lions Club continued managing the Log Cabin as a service to the community. Over the years the City of Beverly Hills was not willing to renew the lease. The Club’s representatives have been asking for years whom the lease should be paid to and the representatives of the City of Beverly Hills stated that due to administrative ambiguity the Lions Club needed to wait with the payments.

The West Hollywood Lions Club is committed to preserving the Log Cabin. We are in the process of beautifying the building and its surroundings while maintaining its Historic Site characteristics. We have re-planted trees in the front and made a wheelchair accessible ramp.

These improvements would have been done in 2018, but the City of Beverly Hills requested that it be put on hold as they were still clarifying the situation with the City of West Hollywood. While we were waiting for the green light to start the external improvements, we had serviced the electricity lines, sealed the roof/skylights, and installed security and external video monitoring systems.

The West Hollywood Lions Club received its charter from the Lions Club International (“LCI”) in 1926. We are one of the longest operating Club in greater Los Angeles. The West Hollywood Lions Club was incorporated by the State of California on September 25, 1948. LCI is exempt from federal income taxation under §501(c)(4). When the West Hollywood Lions Club received its charter from LCI, it was granted 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status under LCI Group Exemption Number 0239. LCI is the “parent organization of clubs operating in 150 countries and geographical locations around the world. All such clubs have as their primary functions the performance of activities which must serve to alleviate in some way a need in their respective communities, which is financed through funds raised from members of the public.” (IRS Ruling Letter, June 11, 1981). LCI and its chartered clubs are not “charitable organizations,” as defined in IRC §501(c)(3), and donations made to LCI and local clubs are not tax-deductible under IRC §170.

Please help us preserve history of magic of the Log Cabin for all future generations!

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