Item B-13 (HABLA Letter of Support La Casa Rendon).pdf — original pdf

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January 13, 2020 Mr. Andrew Rivera City of Austin Planning and Zoning Department Via E-mail: andrewrivera@austintexas.gov RE: 1705 Haskell Street Austin, TX 78702 - La Casa Rendon Dear Mr. Rivera, I’m writing on behalf of Hispanic Advocates Business Leaders of Austin (HABLA), a local "THINK TANK" group and forum made up of local Hispanic/Latino community and business leaders including native East Austinites committed to discussing and developing sustainable solutions on current affairs, public policies and quality of life issues impacting our local Austin Hispanic/Latino community to formalize our support for the historical designation request for the single family residence at 1705 Haskell Street, also known as La Casa Rendon. Mr. Edward Rendon, a long-time native resident was a civic activist and stone mason who did the stonework on the home. For decades Mr. Rendon as a community leader hosted meetings in his home in an effort to address the needs, concerns, interests and quality of life issues of East Austin residents. HABLA also supported the renaming of Festival Beach/Holly Shores in honor of Mr. Rendon. The privileging of some sites over others often manifested itself in the destruction of places associated with our Mexican-American/Latino history. And sadly, too often our historic places have been sacrificed in the name of city and county progress. With this loss of physical places, the culture and stories are the only remnants of this important history. It is critically important that the history of Mexican-American neighborhoods, our stories and people are preserved and shared especially at a time when development is rapidly changing the face of East Austin. A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. We fully support the Historic Designation for La Casa Rendon. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Paul M. Saldaña, Co-Founder & Facilitator HABLA