John Quigley accepts deal Thursday – pleads ‘no contest’ to trespassing Jan. 11 in Arcadia

Julie Posin stood by John Quigley in solidarity Thursday morning - Photo by Terry Miller

The last of the “tree sitters” John Quigley, accepted a deal Thursday, and pleaded no contest to a single count of trespassing January 11 in Arcadia during an attempt to prevent 11 acres of woodlands being destroyed .
Quigley, 50, of Eagle Rock accepted a similar deal to that which Julia Jaye Posin, 23, of Venice Beach and Andrea Bowers, 45, of Los Angeles both agreed to on June 27 – a small fine, three years of informal probation, and some hours of community service .
The four people who became known as the ‘Arcadia 4’ originally faced not only trespassing but obstructing a police officer but also faced more than $22,000 in restitution payments originally demanded from prosecutors . These charges were eventually dropped as was the $3000 fine.

The other male, Travis Jochimsen, was not present but his lawyer accepted the same plea as Quigley on his behalf.
The judge refused Quigley’s request to read a statement in court after his sentencing, but he read the statement to local media and supporters outside the Alhambra Courthouse. Here is his statement:

“John Quigley’s Statement at the Alhambra Courthouse
Regarding the Arcadia 4 case
August 11, 2011

Your Honor,

I stand here today firmly resolute that our actions on Jan 12, 2011 (climbing into the heritage trees at the Arcadia Woodlands) were out of necessity to defend the public good and our natural heritage, and that the destruction of the Arcadia Woodlands by the LA County Dept. of Public Works was a crime against nature and the people of Southern California. After months of pursuing an aggressive case against us prosecutors finally dropped their call for restitution and fines that, combined, would have totaled more than $30,000. Had they succeeded, they would have set a dangerous precedent that would have had a chilling effect on free speech activities. Restitution is for victims. In this case the victims were the people of Los Angeles County who lost an irreplaceable resource – the last mature oak woodland of it’s kind in the San Gabriel Valley.

Some cynics may say, “what’s the big deal about killing some old trees?” In fact the county had the audacity to turn oaks and sycamores, some hundreds of years old, into wood chips. Essentially saying they had no value when precious oak and sycamore of that age would have fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars from furniture makers and builders. But the value of what was lost goes far deeper than that. Do any of us know of a human being or machine that can produce oxygen as efficiently as a tree? Last time I checked, if we have no oxygen for ten or twelve minutes we’re dead. So next time you hear a cynic asking that question, “what’s the big deal about killing some old trees?” there is an answer for them. And there’s more when we begin to talk about the habitat lost and all the animals killed or displaced in the process.

This mindset that nature has no value is what must change at the LA County Dept. of Public Works. This is why we took action. Trees and nature do matter. In fact they give us life. LA County Dept. of Public Works Policy needs to start reflecting that.

In the months since our action and the community effort behind it we’ve seen positive steps taken. The insistence for an EIR at Hahamonga and the tabling of the destruction of LA Tuna Canyon for now are a start. But we need to go much further. We are choosing to settle this case, so we can focus our energies on serving the public good by holding public officials accountable and effecting change in policies -so that the value of nature is prioritized and protected. We gladly embark on the community service stipulated in this settlement. We believe, in fact that the action we took on Jan 12, 2011 was an act of community service and look forward to continuing these efforts.

We are grateful for the tremendous community support we have received over the past six months. It helped us to stand strong in the face of an aggressive prosecution and attempts to intimidate us economically and with the threat of jail. It was an honor to take this action with Julia Jaye Posin, Andrea Bowers, and Travis Jochimsen – good people who were willing to risk their safety and freedom to stand up for our future and for all of our children and their children’s children.

Non-violent civil disobedience will always be the lifeblood of a free and open society. When power and authority, in the form of public officials, becomes too enamored with itself – as though they know better than the public they work for – then it is the right and duty of all free thinking people to rise up and take action.

A supporter appears outside the courthouse with Julia and John - Photo by Terry Miller

In the future we hope things will be different – that our public officials will make wiser decisions about respecting the value of nature and protecting natural heritage. If they don’t, and if I were presented with the same circumstances again, would I take the same kind of action I took on Jan 12 at the Arcadia Woodlands? Absolutely. Next time my hope is that many more of my neighbors, friends, and fellow free- thinking citizens would join as well. Our future and the future of our children is at stake.

I look forward to continuing efforts to make the changes necessary to preserve life and everyone’s right to freedom of speech.”

“We are all on the same side,” he said. “But it’s absolutely ridiculous to destroy mature oaks to dump sediment – it just doesn’t make sense … they liquidated a public asset.”

Quigley’s plea ends the case that started on Jan. 12 when four people were arrested in Arcadia after they who climbed oak trees attempting to save those trees while bulldozers ultimately destroyed those 11-acres of woodland.

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