Torres Calls on Board of Supervisors to Take Action After Music Festival Deaths

ONTARIO, CA - Today, Rep. Norma J. Torres (D-Pomona) presented a letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors calling on the Board to take action in the wake of the deaths of two teenage girls at the HARD Music Festival held at the Pomona Fairplex this weekend.

"As a Pomona resident, the tragic events of this weekend hit terribly close to home," stated Torres. "I saw first-hand the impact this festival had on my community, from excessive noise and bumper-to-bumper traffic to indecent exposure, fights, and abuse of private property, but I am especially disturbed by the untimely, seeming avoidable deaths of two young women practically in my own backyard."

Torres had previously called on the City of Pomona to grant a public hearing for an appeal filed by Pomona residents on the Conditional Use Permit by the L.A. County Fair Association based on the community's experiences with the first HARD Music Festival held in 2014. The letter presented at today's meeting asks the Board of Supervisors to support a public hearing and initiate an Environmental Impact Review and traffic study to assess the impacts of the Fairplex's activities on local communities. It also expresses support for Supervisor Hilda Solis's motion to ban electronic music festivals on county land until an investigation into the teens' deaths concludes.

"This weekend's events were not isolated incidents," continued Torres. "They are the latest in a pattern of neglect and lack of accountability on the part of event organizers. The Board should take action to ensure they never happen again."

The full text of the letter can be found HERE.

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