One of Olvera Street's most photographed icons could soon be gone due to a decision by a Los Angeles city commission.
Jorge, the stuffed donkey known as “El Burro” that greets guests entering Olvera Street, and his manager, Richard Hernandez, were served a 30-day eviction notice Thursday. Hernandez owns and operates a Mexican restaurant there called La Carreta.
The notice was delivered by the Board of Commissioners of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument Authority.
The board manages the historical and commercial resources of Olvera Street, a venerable thoroughfare whose origins date back to the city's founding as a Spanish village. In 1930, The street was officially repurposed as a Mexican market..
The board listed ownership issues and concerns about delinquency as the main reasons for voting in favor of eviction. according to the board's records.
Hernandez's troubles began years ago when his mother, Maria Trancito Hernandez, tried to add his name to the lease for the premises occupied by La Carreta. According to the commissioners, Maria Trancito was the only person listed on the lease.
Jesus Hernandez, a merchant who owns a gift shop on Olvera Street, waits for a key to lock up his uncle's life-size stuffed donkey, Jorge, in downtown Los Angeles on December 16, 2020.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Maria Trancito Hernandez died on April 16 and was buried on May 9. That day, the board sent a notice to the family informing them that the lease had been terminated, giving them one week to vacate. After family and community members objected at a board meeting, a vote on whether to carry out the eviction was placed on the July 11 agenda.
In the eviction notice, the board acknowledged that Maria Trancito Hernandez attended a meeting on Oct. 9, 2019, with El Pueblo’s previous general manager. She requested that her son Richard, who managed the “El Burro” stand and restaurant, and her daughter Patricia Hernandez be added to the agreement.
Olvera Street's general manager then expressed concerns about the addition of Richard Hernandez, citing a “history of nonpayment of rent, inconsistent business insurance, aggressive and threatening behavior and making false accusations against city staff and merchants.”
There was no documentation of Hernandez’s alleged failures nor any explanation of what constituted “aggressive and threatening behavior.”
A call to current general manager Arturo Chavez was not immediately returned, nor was a call to the Hernandez family.
Richard Hernandez was placed in custody for a year to give him a chance to improve his behavior. The board ultimately determined that his aggression continued from 2019 to 2023, but offered no examples.
When the stores reopened in the summer of 2021, there was no further progress on amending the lease, according to the board.
Nicole Macias, Richard's niece and Maria Trancita's granddaughter, described the issue as a “Administrative error” in a TikTok post on May 10 and said he didn't understand why Olvera Street wasn't working on a new lease.
Pete Brown, a spokesman for Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León, who represents Olvera Street, said the board has the power to enter into service contracts and leases as it deems necessary.
“To this day, our office has not been informed of any extenuating circumstances that would prevent the commission from issuing a lease,” she said. “It is therefore disappointing to see that the El Pueblo Commission was unable to find a way to amicably resolve the situation with Mr. Hernandez. This leaves El Pueblo with one less legacy – a family-owned business that maintains the history and traditions of our town’s birthplace.”
Although Richard Hernandez has run the business since the 1990s, La Carreta dates back to the late 1960s, when Hernandez's father, Jesus “Don Chuy” Hernandez, originally set up shop on Olvera Street.
In those days, Don Chuy used a live donkey from Pomona called Cirila.
In the early 1970s, a photo with Cirila cost 2 dollars and the animal attracted crowds of visitors. Cirila was also used in the traditional Christmas posadas on Olvera Street.
Cirila retired in 1972 and was replaced by the stuffed donkey Jorge, who was shipped from Mexico City. The former beast of burden spent six months in a customs warehouse before agents allowed him to pass through.
Jorge has become an iconic fixture on Olvera Street, with generations of locals and visitors taking photos.
A petition to save Jorge is Nearly 5,000 signatures.
