The Bank Building

Yesterday on our way to mass at our Catholic parish, we took a slight detour to snap a photo of the bank building on parish property at the corner of Finley and Hillhurst.

The rear of the church building is visible past the left corner of the bank building. The bank building has had all the previous Citibank signs removed.

The photo reinforces several impressions I've had. First, there's landscaping on the property around the bank building that needs regular maintenance and hedge trimming. This costs money. There's a security light lit on the building side at lower right, which says that, even without a tenant, utilities must be paid, and this is a big building. I shudder to think about what might happen with no insurance. When I calculated gardening and utility expenses for the church building, I simply didn't factor in the additional costs for the bank building, which are clearly not trivial.

So minimal expenses for keeping the doors open are pretty clearly well above what the squatters now have coming in. In fact, given the version published in the Los Feliz Ledger, Mrs Bush wouldn't lease the space to Walgreen's because they wanted several months free rent to modify the space for their use. This suggests that the squatters were spending the rent money as fast as it was coming in and had no cushion.

So with BevMo! unexpectedly pulling out as a tenant and almost no money now coming in, how long can they keep the doors open? What on earth is the point of trying to gain a few days here and there by playing last-minute games? The building is not rentable with the property in litigation.

It's hard to avoid thinking Mrs Bush and those associated with her are delusional. Or something's hinky. I wouldn't rule out hinky.

Delay

I'm told that Lancaster & Anastasia "pulled another 'fast one' on Judge Strobel", saying they got delivery of her Statement of Decision by the US Postal Service, and therefore they are entitled to an extra five days to respond -- i.e., Tuesday, November 17. How this affects the date on which Judge Strobel's decision will be final, or the date of the hearing on disposition of the related cases, was not clear.

Playing games with the Postal Service is not a new tactic for Lancaster & Anastasia. The link and the news of the new delay raise an interesting question: according to their former web site (still down), Lancaster & Anastasia LLP is located at 350 S Grand Ave #2360, Los Angeles, CA 90071. This is in the California Plaza, an extremely prestigious address, and in fact only a few blocks from the county courthouse, where they could presumably have gone to pick up the judge's decision in person.

However, the rent at that building would be prohibitive for a law firm that can most charitably be characterized as struggling. The explanation is almost certainly that "Suite 2360" at that address is some type of mail drop, or mail drop-cum-phone mail facility. I tried a web search for "virtual office" at that location but couldn't come up with a specific link, but there are web sites for similar facilities located at prestige buildings all over downtown, Century City, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and so forth, which suggests to me that Suite 2360 is something cheap and discreet. Philip Marlowe would have known all about it.

The more I look at Lancaster & Anastasia, the more I get the impression that they rely on a limited number of tired strategies to pursue the few cases they get. Quite possibly their mail drop does take days to forward things to them at home, although when they want to, they can apparently move much faster. On one hand, they need five extra days due to "postal" delay, while on the other, as we see in the link above, they create their own delays as it suits them to do so.

The Plaintiffs [Lancaster] demonstrably know how to mail a letter to get it delivered within one day, or three days.

They do not always choose to do this.

The Defense [Fr Kelley] offers in evidence Exhibit A and offers Exhibit B. Exhibit A had allegedly been mailed before the last hearing, and before Plaintiffs were aware the Court would examine this issue, yet had not arrived as service at the time of hearing, which Plaintiff's counsel did not mention to the Court. (Oddly not mentioned as it still had not been delivered as of that last hearing, and so was not viewed by the Defendant at the hearing, yet it was presumed part of the hearing.)

Yet Exhibit B, mailed after the hearing, was delivered earlier than A, to the same addressee.

Another repeat strategy, which we saw in the case of Becerra v Jones, Bell earlier this year, is to take a bad-facts case and try to turn it into a First Amendment issue. Lancaster lost that one, as well as the Rector, Wardens, and Vestry cases, on appeal.

Doesn't Mr Lancaster turn up someplace in The Big Sleep? The High Window? Seems like I have it someplace. . . maybe not.

St Mary's And The Media Again

Yesterday, I finally got an e-mail from Allison Cohen, the editor of the Los Feliz Ledger.

Hi John: I’ve been reading your blog. We have covered a lot of the St. Mary’s case and are awaiting (today) the judge’s final ruling. The story will be in our upcoming December 2015 edition.

I have spoken with the parties since I emailed you. Please call me at the office number below if you would like to talk more about this case.

Thank you.
Allison

Again, Ms Cohen is entitled to cover what she chooses, although in our neighborhood, the Ledger is little more than a nuisance item that goes straight from the front lawn to the trash can. If people don't bend over to pick the issues up and toss them, it's one more way that messages get sent to those who shouldn't get them indicating the resident is out of town. Ms Cohen, is there a way to opt out of this weekly litter delivery?

I assume, though, that the Ledger survives by selling ads on the pretext that it's providing some sort of community service. So why not cover the St Mary of the Angels story on a timely basis?

Earlier this year, the Ledger ran a story on how the community room in the bank building might or might not still be available if the parish finds a new tenant for the space. Then it ran two stories on how the parish might or might not rent to BevMo!.

Then it ran a story on how testimony was under way in the September trial, but although the judge issued a tentative decision nearly three weeks ago, the Ledger has made no followup. In other words, it's covered various non-events surrounding the parish since May, but the one thing that's actually happened isn't worth mentioning.

But let's look at some of the coverage. From one of the BevMo! pieces:

The church is currently involved in a contentious legal fight over who is its rightful owner. According to church officials, the liquor retailer also pulled out when it learned of the litigation.

One side is under Los Feliz resident and long time Los Feliz advocate Marilyn Bush who is listed as the church’s “senior warden,” and another, under Alan Trimpi, an ally of the church’s former pastor Father Christopher Kelley.

Dr Trimpi's name (Allan) is misspelled. Fr Kelley is not "the church’s former pastor". The legal fight was never over who was the parish's "rightful owner" the argument has been over who controls the parish -- its ownership is not and has never been in dispute. A couple of paragraphs down:

But due to the instability of the church and its legal issues, in April of 2012, an overseeing body, called the Anglican Church of America’s Diocese of the West, took disciplinary action against Kelley, removing him from ministry and took control of the church, appointing Bush and others to the vestry.

The parish left the Anglican Church in America in 2011. The main legal issue after 2012 was whether "Bush and others" were occupying the property as squatters. Judge Strobel's decision on October 26 established that the "elements of forcible detainer" had been met, which simply says that Bush and others are subject to removal as squatters once the decision becomes final next week. There are other issues: what is the impact on the neighborhood of the vacant bank building and apparent neglect of the property by the squatters? How is Mrs Bush helping the community here?

Isn't that something the community should know before next month? Except that it contradicts a great deal of what the Ledger has said up to now.

Scenes Of Clerical Life

A visitor brought to my attention a photo posted on the ACA Diocese of the West web site covering its 2015 Synod, which was held this past October 14. This would be a couple weeks after the September trial and a couple weeks before Judge Strobel issued her decision.

The image strikes me as a group that might have been composed by a Leonardo or a Raphael. Clearly the focus is on Mrs Bush in the center, the elderly doyenne. She is laughing gleefully, though she did not laugh this way during the trial, and I strongly suspect the laugh is forced, the effort of an octogenarian alpha girl to put the bravest face she can on events. She is facing another elderly lady who wasn't identified to me, who is raptly engaged with her.

Mrs Bush is looking away from two other figures at the table, neither of whom appears diverted by whatever pleasantries Mrs Bush shares in the other direction. The priest is Fr Ian Emile Dunn, who is curate at St Peter's Anglican, Auburn, CA, one of the few remaining parishes in the diocese. His bio says he is an alumnus of Hillsdale College, an institution for which I have a great deal of respect, and frankly, I'm sorry Hillsdale wasn't Hillsdale when I was of college age. Apparently this is not an unusual reaction from people who take its excellent online courses.

As a result, I've got to think Fr Dunn is several cuts above people like Strawn, Marsh, Vaughan, "Brother Christian" Tutor, and the rest, and I'm wondering about his posture and facial aspect in the photo. With Mrs Bush facing the other way, he seems either to be praying or reflecting seriously on what he's gotten himself into. Fr Dunn, you are in my thoughts and prayers; I hope greater things await you.

The lady dressed in white on the right, I'm told, is Mrs Owen Rhys Williams. She appears to be impatiently studying her watch, with a less than happy expression on her face. Her husband, "Bishop" Williams, faces an uncertain future, with the St Mary's squatters presumably no longer able to pay him and the prospect of almost certain ejection from the premises in a matter of weeks. Mrs Rhys Williams is not sharing Mrs Bush's levity.

Behind the foreground group, between Mrs Bush and the old woman she is charming, are "The Venerable Canon" Frederick W Rivers and the dangerously incompetent diocesan chancellor, Mr Smith. Leonardo or Raphael couldn't have conceived it better.

A Few More Thoughts On The Virtue Online Post

The comments at the post are instructive. Except for one friend of the parish who intervened late, the other commenters appear to be angry and ignorant, to the extent that they get the spelling of "Kelley" wrong.

The anger in particular, although it's typical of what goes on at Virtue Online, is puzzling. The St Mary of the Angels case is an intriguing story -- clearly the lawyers and judges who've worked on it have thought it was worth their time. It's at the center of 20th century Anglican developments like the Congress of St Louis, "continuing Anglicanism", the Anglican Use Pastoral Provision, and later the TAC's Portsmouth Petition and Anglicanorum coetibus. There's a certain amount of evil in the story. but as Hogan's Heroes and Springtime For Hitler make clear, it can be healthy even to laugh at the greatest evil. Tony Morello lies somewhere between Sgt Schultz and Col Klink.

But there's no laughter at Virtue Online, as I assume there's none in Belchertown. The statement from Frederick Rivers that the court's ruling "should not be seen as a major setback" prompted a visitor to write it's "[l]ke someone pointing out 'It ain't over till it's over' when their team is down 10 runs at the bottom of the eighth." My wife and I are pretty sure the statement was drafted for Rivers by Mr Lancaster (another candidate for Sgt Schultz), and my wife suggests that, with the money spent and no tenant in the bank building, Lancaster is now comping his services. Not a major setback indeed.

When I started this blog, I looked to Virtue Online as a reason for not allowing comments. Fr Z from time to time observes that the comment sections of some similar blogs simply allow participants to place their souls in danger. I've never regretted not allowing comments here.

St Mary Of The Angels At Virtue Online

David Virtue finally covered the story. The reaction of the ACA is predictable. Judge Strobel's final order will be effective November 17, with a hearing for disposition of the related cases on November 18.

Quick Updates

The Lancaster & Anastasia LLP web site is still down, a week since I first checked, which suggests the reason is probably not just a technical glitch with the hosting service -- more likely, the glitch is no money to pay the hosting service.

As of today, there is no mention of Judge Strobel's decision on either the Los Feliz Ledger web site or Virtue Online, although Virtue has pressing reflections from the Provincial Synod XXI of the Anglican Catholic Church Original Province, as well as an ACNA bishop's views on a Christian's relation to church and state. (Seems to me that both bodies would correspond to a common characterization by Mr Trump; they're losers.)

But then, so is David Virtue. So, for that matter, are Brian Marsh and Bill Lancaster.