Sean Arian with husband Councilman Mike Bonin
(Editor’s note: Today, in a Re-Elect Mike Bonin message, Councilman Mike Bonin’s husband Sean wrote:
“I wanted to be sure you saw the Los Angeles Times editorial about my husband, Mike Bonin.
This past Sunday, the paper wrote about his efforts to confront the homelessness crisis, calling him “brave” and “enterprising” in confronting “the moral crisis of our time in this city.” That’s definitely the Mike I know.
I can tell you from personal experience, from the moment he wakes up until he falls asleep at night, Mike is fighting with passion and determination to get people out of encampments and into housing. His proposals to provide housing, shelter and services have been met with lawsuits, appeals, and personal, false and vitriolic attacks. We’ve had people chanting “evict the homeless from Los Angeles” and “White lives matter” outside our home in Mar Vista. . . ..
I was proud to see the LA Times tell the truth about Mike, and I hope you can, too. You can share the editorial with your friends, and you can help Mike fight the negative attacks and the lies by donating to his re-election campaign.
People who oppose solutions are lining up to come after Mike. I know that won’t slow him down, but he needs your help. Can you show him that we are in this together?”)
One CTN reader in Pacific Palisades submitted this response:
Sean,
Thank you for your thoughts regarding your husband.
Unfortunately, the homeless problem is very difficult.
The City Council’s vote [to pursue a feasibility plan] to place homeless shelters on Will Rogers Beach is not a proper solution for getting homeless off the streets.
I suggest that the Mayor, the City Council, and the Board of Supervisors investigate this solution: Have all government agencies find all the vacant industrial properties in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, and make plans to rent or acquire these sites for potential homeless shelters. I am sure they exist in all Council Districts and throughout Los Angeles County. This would provide hundreds of locations to house the homeless.
If our City and County governments would consider this suggestion, we could avoid placing homeless on Will Rogers Beach which is owned by the State of California.
Please discuss this suggestion with your husband, because we, the taxpayers’ voices, are never heard.
I empathize with your husband with all the negative feedback he receives on the homeless problem, but we need realistic solutions that do not include Will Rogers State Beach.
Chuck McGlothlin
Bull.
With all due respect, I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and I believe that your husband may not truly understand that the homeless MUST be near services. To be housed at the beach parking lots, miles away from much needed services goes against basic Social Work 101.
Wait, are you kidding me?! Chuck’s response is far too muted and respectful. The “editorial” in the LA Times was a total joke and might as well have been a campaign piece for Bonin’s re-election. Not to mention that it was incredibly dismissive of our concerns, saying that every citizen wants solutions “except the ones in the Palisades, apparently.” What a crock and a complete denial of the facts! I have called to cancel my digital subscription to the Times more than once, and it always devolves into the “we will keep you at any cost” process that ends up at $0.50 a week. Talk about desperation! Since I feel bad for the representative and also want the sports scores, I hold my nose and remain a subscriber. This is journalism? Embarrassing…
Well said, Chuck.
And placing the homeless where your husband is suggesting, will create even more problems. The current fires are just one example. The escape from Los Angeles, the robberies, killings, the clean up by good intentioned folks who are not going to continue that effort and the lack of compassion for the children of Los Angeles who need a place to escape to are not, apparently, a concern. MORE ISSUES will occcur.
Where does he say Don’t be mean to my husband? Why do you have to make up things to get your opinions across. Not the first time. This was a letter to his supporters, not the general public. The reason we may lose this fight is that so many other lies have been told. The response has been entirely nimbyism with weak arguments about solutions . Hammering about the state owning the beach is a losing argument. So is attacking Bonin personally. The writer says he’s not listening to the taxpayers,Bonin is smart enough to have done polling in the district. I’m sure he knows that the entitled Palisades residents are not that large a group district wide. You can print fake news everyday, but the winning argument is about the city losing the beach, not the Palisades is too cool for homeless people. Let’s see if you have the guts and professionalism to print this instead of the letter that said absolutely nothing new.
We have a thousand of acres of state and federal land. Build homeless camps with sanitation facilities, social and medical services, tent cabins, vehicular parking etc. use and create enforceable laws that will put these people in the camps for both their safety and the safety of our communities. Stop this insanity NOW!
In the April 27 CTN, Editor Sue Pascoe wrote an Opinion encouraging Palisades resident & former Chair of Palisades Taskforce on Homelessness Maryam Zar to run against Councilman Mike Bonin. The Opinion article informed us that Maryam Zar intends to run for State Assembly, District 50 as the position will be open when Richard Bloom runs for L.A. County Supervisor. Whatever elected office anyone is running for, we need to know if they support Mike Bonin’s efforts for the feasibility study to put homeless tents/cabins on beach parking areas. We respectfully request they make their position clear on this issue NOW.
Andy,
Here’s what I’d like you to do: volunteer on the Pacific Palisades Task Force for Homelessness for six months. Volunteer on the Pacific Palisades Residents Association. Volunteer at the Palisades-Malibu YMCA handing out food to people once a week. Help the foster children that have aged out. Join the Optimist Club, which sponsors one of the largest homes for youth in the County.
If you have children attending public schools or if you have already done the suggestions above, then let my readers know, because right now your tone seems abrasive.
Sue
Andy – i find your remarks incredibly rude & dismissive of Palisadians very real concerns of their safety & well being. You appear very angry. And Sue, thank you for your tireless efforts of raising important issues to the attention. of all Palisadians who love their community.