The LA City Council is taking action to save the beloved “El Burro” on Olvera Street

The Los Angeles City Council has decided to protect a stuffed donkey that has become a landmark on downtown LA’s famous Olvera Street.

“El Burro,” or the donkey, has drawn countless people to Richard Hernandez’s La Carreta business.

“He’s become an icon. He’s become a landmark here,” Hernandez said.

La Carreta was established in 1968, and for several years, visitors came to pose with the family’s real pet donkey, Cirila. In the 1980s, the donkey was replaced by a life-size stuffed burro named Jorge.

“The burro has been here as long as I can remember,” resident Christina Mora said. “I have a picture of my daughter…she was little and my husband on the burro.”

Hernandez hopes the donkey and his business will be here for generations to come. His family recently had problems with their lease and was about to be evicted.

“My mom came down to the office in 2019 to make sure my sister, brother and I had the new contracts,” Hernandez said. “She officially submitted the paperwork for one reason or another, the management neglected to put me and my other sister in this business.”

So when his mother died unexpectedly in April, Hernandez says five days later, the CEO of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument Authority board told him to leave.

“But I said, ‘Wait a minute, mom filed the paperwork,’” Hernandez said. “He said he went to the city prosecutor, he said I don’t have a case, I don’t have a contract, you have to go.”

Hernandez turned to Councilman Kevin de Leon for help.

“The fact that he got evicted is so crazy,” de Leon said.

On Friday, the City Council unanimously approved a motion by de Leon. It calls for the board to immediately reconsider the lease and add Hernandez and his sister’s names to the lease.

“I have the full support of the City Council,” Hernandez said. “I think I have a fighting chance.”

The authority’s general manager, Arturo Chavez, said he had no comment and declined to answer our questions.

“This is my life’s passion, it really is,” Hernandez said. “I like it. It doesn’t make me rich, but it enriches my life.”