At the Cheviot Rec Center, Circling the News was told all the cots for the homeless were taken.
Circling the News received the following email from Pacific Palisades resident Dr. Rebecca Malamed on April 5:
“Hi, I am not sure you are aware, but I wanted to let you know that I started a petition last week. I have had a lot of support with over 8,700 signatures in less than a week. I want to send the information to the city, and I was hoping to have 10,000 signatures when I do.”
The petition, “Stop Recreation Centers in Los Angeles Being Used as Homeless Shelters,” points out the action is contrary to CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines.
The petition also notes that “The CDC referred a Japanese study that found that there was much greater transmission of SARS 2 cov-19 indoors as compared to outdoors. Actually, it was over 18 times greater transmission. This suggests that housing the homeless indoors in shelters will cause a much greater incidence of infection in any homeless individuals housed indoors. This research means that living outdoors is actually much safer for the homeless. We believe that in the absence of individual housing unit the city of LA should consider using public land (city, county, state or federal lands) to create areas of safety for the homeless population. Sanitation facilities could be urgently created, and social services and health care could be available to the largest number of individuals.”
The link for the petition is http://chng.it/74cm247p
Malamed also sent the following information for residents who would like to take further action:
Mayor’s Office:
Mayor Eric Garcetti’s phone (213) 978-1028 or email mayor.heldesk@lacity.org. Also in the Mayor’s office are Lisa Payne lisa.payne@lacity.org and Tanaz Golshan tanaz.golshan@lacity.org.
LA Parks :
(213) 202-2700
LA Department of Public Health:
Councilman’s Office:
Councilman Mike Bonin councilmember.bonin@lacity.org
Spokesperson: david.grahamcaso@lacity.org
Field Deputy Lisa Cahill: Lisa.Cahill@lacity.org
Rick Caruso
323-900-8100 or press@caruso.com
I asked Malamed why Rick Caruso and she replied, “Rick Caruso has a vested interest in protecting the Palisades because of all the money he invested in Palisades Village. Also, he would have much more pull with the city than any of us.”
(Editor’s note: After Malamed graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in 1988, she worked in private practice and taught in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Manitoba. In 1991, she moved to California and taught in the Department of Family Medicine at UC San Francisco before moving to Los Angeles and working in private practice.
She writes on her website: “My mission is to educate and empower you to make informed and wise decisions on a wide variety of topics related to your personal health as well as the health of your family, your community, and our planet as a whole.” Visit: drrebecca.com.)
More than 40 new RVs were set up at the Westwood Rec Center to house the homeless.