Third Street between Rose and Sunset in Venice is considered too dangerous for pedestrians to walk.
L.A. City Council member Joe Buscaino (CD-15) will hold a press conference in Venice at 7 am. tomorrow (June 7).
On June 1, CTN took a tour of the Venice area near the bridge housing at Sunset and Main with Haaven co-founder and Venice resident Heidi Roberts.
Roberts wrote to CTN this weekend: “Buscaino will be on Ocean Front Walk at Rose Avenue to speak out against the ridiculous policies that have created a humanitarian crisis on our front doorsteps.
“For seven long years, we’ve suffered under Mike Bonin’s willful ignorance of the dangers created by abandoning public safety and avoiding common sense solutions to homelessness with devastating results that have allowed homelessness to expand into the crisis state we experience today.
“Joe is publicly speaking out against the destructive, self-serving policies that have negatively impacted so many of us in Venice and threaten to decimate other CD11 communities as well,” Roberts said.
It is expected that Buscaino will unveil his proposed draft ordinance for Section 41.18 of the L.A. Municipal Code. His amendment states that people shall not obstruct a street, sidewalk or public-right-of-way open for pedestrian travel. It also states that if the City Council adopts this measure, it will also apply to freeway overpasses, underpasses, ramps, tunnels and pedestrian walkways at subways where it is determined that it infringes on public health, safety or welfare.
The key is, “At no time shall any person who has been offered shelter sit, lie or sleep in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public right-of-way, or publicly owned property.”
Unlawful conduct is described in this motion as anyone who refuses to take down their tent between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. and any person who willfully resists a City employee from taking down, folding, deconstructing, impounding or discarding the Tent, including by refusing to retreat from the tent.
Buscaino is seeking the voices of Pacific Palisades residents. His District Director Gabriela Medina wrote in a June 4 email:
“We highly encourage you to call into the City Council meetings for general public comment every Tuesday and Wednesday to amplify your position and urge the City Council to resume comprehensive CARE+ homeless encampment cleanups and adopt common-sense amendments to Los Angeles Municipal Code sections 41.18 & 56.11, which regulate sidewalk camping and personal property storage.
“The phone lines open at 9:30 AM and public comment begins shortly after the meeting is called to order at 10 a.m., for approximately one hour. Calls are taken in the order they are received. Call (669) 254-5252 and use Meeting ID No. 160 535 8466 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. Once admitted into the meeting, press *9 to request to speak.
“The voices of Angelenos like yourself continue to be drowned out by advocates who claim to know what is right for our communities,” Medina said.
There is a specified zone (SECZ) around bridge housing, which states that no tents shall be erected and no blocking of sidewalks. The streets are posted, but there has been no enforcement in Venice.
It is refreshing to see at least one city council member who is concerned about the West Side communities, and the welfare of all our residents. The homeless need mental health care, structured living arrangements, and substance abuse treatment. Housing our chronically mentally ill on the sidewalks, and in parking lots, as advocated by Mike Bonin, is barbaric. Thank you Joe Buscaino for your help.