Court Order Puts End to Ocean Front Lottery; Reinstates Amplified Music

By Greta Cobar

The boardwalk lottery, which somewhat changed the free spirit of Venice over the past two years, was deemed to violate the 1^st Amendment’s right to free speech by the US District Judge Dean D. Pregerson. A temporary injunction is taking place immediately to make all boardwalk spaces available on a first-come basis.

Most, if not all, true artists are pleased with the ruling, as the lottery system allowed families to enter all of their members in the lottery, from children to senior citizens, in hopes of a space or multiple spaces, which they were able to fill with merchandise cheaply purchased on The Alley downtown and sold at double or triple the price out here in Venice. Either that or they sold their spots to other vendors selling other imports from China.

The noise ordinance established by the lottery, prohibiting musical instruments or amplified sound in certain areas of the boardwalk between 9 am and sunset, was also suspended by the judge.

The basic rules of the boardwalk, however, are that only hand-made items can be traded for donations and that anybody is entitled to free speech, such as political activism or performance art. If that law was enforced, there would be plenty of space for everybody. Instead, true artists and performers are harassed and marginalized in favor of commercial vendors mostly from outside of Venice. This is true with or without the lottery system.

Under the lottery system, 100 spaces on the boardwalk were labeled as “P spaces,” which stands for Performer, and another 100 spaces were “I spaces,” which stands for Interactive-Intertwined, a code name for selling stuff, and an additional ten “Black” spaces were available on a first-come basis, two of which were for food distribution only. In reality, however, all spaces have been used mainly by commercial vendors over the period of the lottery system.

Although getting rid of the lottery was celebrated by the Venice artists, they would also like to see all commercial vendors gone and the boardwalk back to what it was intended to be, a place of self-expression.

The lawsuit was filed by 13 Venice artists, such as Solomon, the snake man, who was unable to continue performing on the boardwalk because he chose to not be part of the lottery system. However, most Venice artists were cornered into taking part in a system that they did not agree with.

Ibrahim, one of the most prolific artists in Venice and one of the few who stood his grounds and never took part in the lottery, said that getting rid of it is fantastic. “I have a suitcase full of tickets, all behind the lottery, that I still have to go to court for, even though I’m supposed to go on vacation. Although the lottery is gone, I still have to go to court,” he said. Talk a about waste of resources on the government’s part.

RA RA Superstar, who has been showcasing his paintings on the boardwalk since 1999, had to become part of the lottery to continue his presence on the boardwalk, but confessed that many weeks he did not get a space and was frustrated. He also pointed out the fact that there never was a P or I zone, but it was just commercial vending all over the place. Also, without a lottery ticket one could set up in a P zone only after 12 noon, which affected the flow of people on the boardwalk, as the tourists tended to come only after noon, when the place was livelier.

Vivianne Robinson, who does the “Name on Rice” and who was born in Venice, was happy to see the lottery gone. She chose to be part of it as a back-up plan, but she mainly used or shared the black space right in front of her shop. She’s been on the boardwalk for 16 years.

Wolf, one of the best musicians in the world who plays flute, mandolin and guitar on the boardwalk, was another one of the few who resisted becoming part of a lottery system he did not agree with. To continue performing he had to maneuver around the rules and pay unfair tickets.

Following the Venice tradition, we will focus on the positive and celebrate the injunction of one of the nastiest regulations ever enforced on our boardwalk. However, in that same tradition we will continue the fight towards real opportunity for self-expression, minus The Alley junk.

Why RVs Are Here To Stay

By Jim Smith

 

Forget about the wars, forget about global warming, and forget about obnoxious weed blowers, the Santa Monica Airport, illegal fences and rent gouging. Nothing has attracted more strong feelings in Venice lately than the issue of RVs.

The atmosphere has gotten so heated that a few Venetians have become obsessed by the topic and seemingly spend all their waking hours blogging to each other about their latest horrifying sighting of a recreational vehicle. Just when it seemed we were finally done with the overnight parking districts (OPDs) scheme, where all of us would pay a fee to the city of Los Angeles to park on our streets at night, up pop more acronyms and assorted euphemisms like OVO (overheight vehicle parking), “safe parking” and “streets to homes.” And as the issue gets outside publicity, more RVs head this way.

Here’s the problem with these so-called solutions: OVO would ban RVs from city streets between 2-6am. It would prevent access to the coastal zone in the same way that OPDs would have, and will likely draw the ire of the Coastal Commission. Another effect will be for RV owners to downsize to a van, which is not covered by the OVO ordinance. Banning RVs from beach lots is an even more flagrant abuse of access for all.

“Safe parking” sounds like a great idea. The problem is in the implementation. It’s been talked about for several years without any result. Suggestions of various parking lots that could be used for overnight RV parking have been made to the L.A. Councilmember’s office, where they have disappeared down a black hole. Of course, nearly any lot would probably attract NIMBY (not in my back yard) protests. Another problem is the apparent need by city and social service agencies to make repressive rules that would treat the adult RV owners like children. This urge to clientize anyone who falls within their clutches seems to be endemic with social service types.

Lastly, “streets to homes” is about the removal of the poor from Venice. Those who blame the homeless and RV dwellers for their circumstances share a belief expressed by the Los Angeles Real Estate Voice, which says, “The vast majority of the people living out of their cars are doing so because they want to: it’s a lifestyle choice.” The truth is that for nearly everyone who is homeless or living in an RV it’s because of economic necessity. Sure, long time Venetians would rather live in a vehicle than live in a roach-infested tenement in Hollywood or the Valley. Who wouldn’t?

The goal of many of the property owners and landlords who seem to be at the heart of the anti-homeless crowd is to get the poor out of Venice, thereby supposedly raising their property values.

The first step is to remove the homeless and the RVs. Then demolish low-income housing, followed by conversion of as many rental units as possible to upscale condominiums. To accomplish this they must change the traditional role of the police from fighting crimes against people (rape, assault, murder) and crimes against property (burglary, robbery, theft), and instead use them as a tool of social enforcement. In other words, make them take the side of the rich against the poor.

The police would become a militarized force for gentrification. This begins with a concentration on petty crime using former Chief William Bratton’s “broken window” policy, which is now being administered by his successor, Chief Charlie Beck. As applied in Venice, the police are used to implement the “stick” of Councilmember Bill Rosendahl’s “carrot and stick” approach to the homeless and RV owners. The carrot has yet to appear.

Implementation means “sweeps” of both homeless and RVs, looking for “failures to appear,” “broken tail lights,” “expired registrations,” and other petty infractions. While the violations may be petty, the tickets are not. Poor people, who don’t have enough for everyday necessities, are plunged into the criminal “justice” system of mounting fines, jail time and loss of their possessions. The overall goal is to create a climate of fear that will impel those being targeted to leave Venice.

I have been told by a number of different people, all homeless or living in RVs, that the police have told them that if they see the person in Venice again, he or she will go to jail. Many of the homeless experience regular rotation to county jail and back to Venice. Some have given up living in their chosen community and have left for another city where the cycle is likely to start all over again. As local homeless people disappear, the collection of cans and bottles from residential trash cans is being taken over by immigrants, who may be the next target if the homeless are driven away.

But removing the homeless and the RVs from Venice is easier said than done. Property owners have mistakenly blamed the homeless for the decline in their property values. Their vision apparently does not go beyond Walgrove Avenue. The entire country, and most of the world, is in a severe depression that is driving down the value of all investments, and which started with the housing crisis of 2008. Even if there was not a single homeless person or a single RV anywhere in Venice, property values would not rise.

The current official unemployment rate in California is 12.9 percent. The real unemployment rate (which was changed by the Clinton Administration) is around 23 percent. At the bottom of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the unemployment rate was about 30 percent. One and a half million people are now “99ers,” that is, they have exhausted their 99 weeks of extended employment. Some of these will have no choice but to climb into an RV while others will be on the streets.

For those who still have a job, or a trust fund, this is merely a recession. For those who have lost nearly everything, it is the worst depression imaginable. There were 325,000 foreclosures across the country in August, the latest month to be reported. California led the nation. In 2009, there were 2.8 million foreclosures. California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois account for 50 percent of the foreclosures. In addition, a massive number of delinquent home loans have not yet reached foreclosure, say economists. Not all of the people who have had foreclosures have bought an RV and headed for Venice yet.

If your home was foreclosed, or you were evicted from your rental unit, would you rather sleep on the street or in a comfortable, if small, recreational vehicle? Prices for RVs are now at $1,000 or under for a 10-year-old model. That’s less than a month’s rent in most Venice apartments. It’s just the ticket for people who have lost nearly everything, including their jobs, and are trying to survive with odd jobs or government assistance.

As more and more cities adopt restrictions against RVs that are even more stringent than OVOs, more campers will come to Venice. Strict enforcement of punitive laws against those in RVs will not solve the problem. It will only force those in RVs to be more stealthy, to downgrade to vans or to begin living on the streets. Unless the homeless are rounded up and put in camps like the Japanese-Americans were during World War II, the issue must be considered a social problem, not a police problem. Unfortunately, the problem cannot be solved solely in Venice. We are not an island.

Here are some suggestions that may help:

• Create a massive public works and jobs program to rebuild America’s infrastructure. This was done in China instead of a bailout of the banks. As a result, China has avoided most of the ill effects of the depression.
• Pass a law in the legislature to ban restrictions on RV parking anywhere in the state. This will make all cities, rich and poor, share in whatever burden RVs cause.
• Stop using the police to solve a social problem.
• Open all public lots to overnight parking. Tap into the sewer line for waste disposal wherever feasible.
• Create an annual basic income for all. This will alleviate poverty and eventually eliminate it. In addition, it will eliminate the social service bureaucracy that siphons off funds that should go to the needy. A basic income can be paid for by ending military adventures around the world and by instituting a maximum income ceiling. This is not a new, nor a radical proposal. It was proposed by the Governor of Louisiana, Huey Long, nearly 80 years ago.

 

Letters: Venice Needs a Dump Station

By Edward LaGrossa

First off, let’s make this absolutely clear… I know of no homeless person or RV dweller in my over three decades in Venice that thinks it’s acceptable for anyone to dump their RV waste on the streets or gutters of this town. NO ONE. Doing this is like taking a collective dump on everyone in Venice. The issue is not just the concerns of renters and/or homeowners; but everyone of us in Venice. This especially includes the self-righteous person or persons who are throwing feces and urine under RV’s they deem unacceptable in what they think of as their neighborhood, then calling the authorities to remove the RV.This happened to Louis Garcia on September 30^th on Windward Ave. with a note that read:  “Hey Fuckhead. I see shit leaking out of this heap. I light it on fire. See you, I kick your fucking ass! I’ll be looking for you M[other] F[uck]er.”

Five days later, an RV did burn down in the Chase Bank parking lot on Lincoln Blvd. and Milwood Avenue and the RV dweller lost everything. They don’t know whether it was an accident or arson. Coincidence? Perhaps not. What we do know is that someone took a picture of this burning RV within minutes after it was caught on fire! Who took the picture? It’s unknown, but a well-known local RV hating web site launched pictures of this burning RV within the hour.

When a web site allows anonymous commenters to stir up hatred and escalate the violence on the pretense that it is their town, not homeless people or RV dwellers,  this site could be held responsible to any injuries or death (the anonymous commenters also said they will go after anyone who writes for The Venice Beachhead, which as a free speech advocate, I decided to call their bluff). These haters wanted poor Louis’ head without knowing that he’s never used his bathroom in the two years he’s owned his RV. Now that we have the handwriting of the saboteur, we’ll be able to check handwriting samples to identify and hopefully prosecute this potentially very dangerous person(s).

Committing violence to protect the optimal resale value out of certain home and business owner’s Venice real estate investments is not what defines this unique town. The boardwalk gives us our unique identity and the boardwalk is about artists and musicians. Always has been, always will be. Personally, as a long-time boardwalk musician, I am extremely concerned about why RV dwellers are dumping waste on our streets? Lazy? Drunk? Indifferent? Broke? Maybe so, but the closest dumping station is at Dockweiler Beach in Playa Del Rey, just less than 16 miles round trip from the Rose Avenue parking lot.

The dump cost $10 and the gas to drive to Dockweiler Beach will add another $8 to $10 in an RV that gets 6 MPG. This needs to be done about once every six weeks for a single RV dweller with a 20 gallon tank. Now to someone who owns a million dollar piece of real estate, this cost is no big deal. Of course they don’t have to worry about their excrement. But for someone who is living in their RV and has very little, if any income, this is quite a burden. Everyone has a right to the dignity of using a bathroom when needed. Everyone! As the Bible says: those that have much, much is required (Lk.12.48). This one sentence turned Bill Gates from the riches person on the planet, to the most generous man to the world’s homeless in the history of humanity.  That is the compassionate leadership that is needed on this issue.

I drove to Dockweiler Beach to see how the dumping operation worked. I talked with a gentleman by the name of Anthony Rodriquez who works for LA County Beach and Harbor. He told me that approximately 20 people dump on a weekday and up to 50 on a weekend with more in the summer. When I asked him if people from Venice come there he said “not too many because it’s too far for them. Venice needs one there.” He said there’s one in Malibu and there’s one here at Dockweiler, so with Venice in the middle, it would be perfect. The dump site itself is literally a hole in the ground with a metal plate covering it and a nearby water hose. There was no smell what’s so ever. Anthony suggested charging five dollars per dump, affordable for most RV dwellers every six weeks.

The location of the dump station could easily be put in the Venice Blvd. parking lot on the left hand side of the bathrooms where there is now an empty space. RV’s would just have to back up, dump their waste and be on their way. Incredibly, since October 1, no RV’s are allowed to park in our public parking lots in Venice – so they would have to leave after the dump.

So there’s the humane RV dumping solution. Now how do we get the political will to get this done when so many homeowners feel they own the LAPD and politicians as part of LA County’s tax base; and wants them to get rid of all RV’s in Venice? The question is how far we’ll they go to get their goal of privatizing city streets?  As if to exemplify their digital KKK tactics of terror; while I was writing this article, someone stabbed the tire on my uninhabited RV that was parked legally in front of my house. I say let’s stop them collectively before someone gets hurt or killed. We do that by identifying who they are and prosecuting the violence they hide behind. But make no mistake about it folks – this is another slice in the larger war of “The People vs. The Money.”  Where do you stand?

Nancy Cunningham, Community Activist, Dies

By Lisa Zimble

Venice lost a longtime resident and ardent supporter of the community, when our friend Nancy Cunningham passed away in her home on October 6 from complications due to esophageal cancer.  She had lived in Venice since 1991.

Although Nancy never married nor had children, she is loved and remembered by those lucky enough to be counted as her friends and neighbors. We admired her fierce independence, her prodigious intellect, her blunt honesty, and her unfailing kindness.

She was often out and about with her two dogs, Justice and Lazarus, who predeceased her in the last year.  Her cat Max remains on the block, adopted by kind neighbors, and still takes his place on the bench in Nancy’s yard, guardian of her memory and potted plants.

Born in Minneapolis, Nancy graduated Stanford in 1959 and practiced criminal law in the L.A. Public Defender’s office until her retirement in 2004. She was a fearless, outspoken and generous supporter of progressive political causes and a crusader for animal rights. Art, travel, service, reading, women’s rights, her pets and friends constituted the core abiding values of her life. She also loved football, her Venice bungalow, her Mini Cooper, and had no use for organized religion, republicans, and/or other kinds of fools.

One of her favorite pastimes was bringing challenging, and what some might consider subversive literature to children.  She loved prying open little minds, helping to turn the neighborhood kids in her life into independent critical thinkers.

She was used to making her own decisions, and as cancer ravaged her body, she decided it was time to go, and she went. Her belief in the afterlife not only did not sustain her, but was non-existent. Still, she was fearless in her final weeks, as she had been her entire life. If she runs into God, she’s going to be extremely surprised.

Her distinctive and ready laugh still rebounds up and down our street. Nancy, you will be missed.

Donations in Nancy’s memory can be made to VCHC – Venice Community Housing Corporation, 720 Rose Ave. Venice, CA 90291 (310) 399-4100, www.vchcorp.org; Inside Out Community Arts, 2210 Lincoln Boulevard Venice, CA 90291 (310) 397-8820, www.insideoutca.org/about-us; or Venice Arts, 610 California Avenue, Venice, CA 90291
(310) 578-1745  http://www.venice-arts.org.

 

IN BRIEF: Gjelina Restaurant in Hot Water

The busy eatery at 1427 Abbot Kinney Blvd., at Milwood Avenue, is in danger of losing its permit to operate. At a hearing Sept. 30 before the West L.A. Planning Commission, it was found that the restaurant was seating 40 more customers than permitted.

Complaints from neighbors about parking and noise from live music on the patio were heard at the Oct. 19 Neighborhood Council meeting.

At that meeting, the Council’s board voted to ask the Planning Commission not to take action against the restaurant for eight months.

The topic became heated when co-owner Fran Camaj started yelling at one of the restaurant’s neighbors, Amy Alkon. She was shaking her head vigorously in opposition to Camaj’s statement that he had secured extra parking for the neighbors.

Camaj also told a Beachhead reporter that the valet parking place in front of the restaurant was legal. However, Mohammad Blorfroshan an engineer with the L.A. Dept. of Transportation told the Beachhead that painting the curb white was illegal since the restaurant had only been approved for a 6pm – midnight loading zone. He said that anyone could park in the spot during the day.

Meanwhile, the owners are seeking to add two more restaurants on Abbot Kinney. They are planning a pizza parlor next to Gjelina (same block as Abbot’s Pizza) and another restaurant on Abbot Kinney Blvd. at Santa Clara. A request for a car stacking permit has gone over like, well, a car stacking permit.

 

IN BRIEF: Gold’s Gym CEO Gave $2 million to anti-Gay Candidate Group

Gold’s Gym CEO Robert Rowlings, a Texas billionaire, has given $2 million to American Crossroads, which supports anti-Gay candidates. Rowlings, who is the CEO of Gold’s parent corporation, TFT Holdings said he was merely supporting fiscally conservative groups.

However several LGBT groups, including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force aren’t buying it. In addition Change.org has launched a petition demanding Gold’s stop supporting anti-Gay candidates.

Several Gold’s franchise gyms in Northern California have withdrawn from the chain due to the controversy.

Gold’s gym was founded in Venice by Joe Gold, who later sold the business.

 

IN BRIEF: That’s Where Our Money Goes

It’s not often that we ordinary citizens get to peak behind the curtain. But the furor about salaries in the city of Bell has forced the city, and the state, to show us how much our 50,000 public “servants” are getting paid.

It’s no secret that L.A. City Councilmembers make $178,789. But you might be interested to know that 32 employees of the L.A. Police Department make more money, including Police Chief Charlie Beck who is paid $304,000. Not bad for a starting salary.

Poor old “Nuch” (Carmen A. Trutanich), the new city attorney, only gets $214,546, hardly enough to commute from San Pedro every day. Only two other city employees make more than $300,000 a year. They are the General Managers of the Airports and the Harbors departments. But there are many more making more than $200,000 or in the high $100,000s.

Meanwhile, the estimated average per capita income in Los Angeles is $28,071.

The database is maintained by the City Controller ($196,667). It lists job classification, not names of employees, but for the highest salaried it is easy to guess his/her identity. Find it at: http://bit.ly/aFNK0d.

The state of California also lists the salaries of employees of most cities and counties in the state at: http://lgcr.sco.ca.gov.

 

IN BRIEF: Your Senator Has Died

Quick now, what was her name?

If you guessed Jenny Oropeza, you must have heard the news that the 53-year-old state senator died Oct. 20. Her name will remain on the November ballot and she will likely win the election.

Oropeza won the senate seat – District 28, which includes Venice – in 2006, narrowly defeating George Nakano, who represented Venice in the state assembly for years before being forced by term limits to seek another position. The 28h District is gerrymandered in such a way that it nearly guarantees that a Democrat will win, although not necessarily a progressive one. It includes Brentwood, San Pedro, Inglewood, Dominguez Hills and a sliver of Long Beach. That sliver includes the home where Oropeza has lived since the mid-’90s. Redistricting took place after the 2000 census. How Oropeza’s home was included in a narrow finger of the 28th District is probably an interesting story. Or perhaps, it’s just coincidence.

Jenny Oropeza was a classic apparatchik in the Democratic Party, who devoted herself since college to moving up the political ladder. She held elective office as student body president at Cal State Long Beach, member of the Long Beach school board, the Long Beach City Council, and the state assembly.

Her political career employed two tactics. First, volunteer for every job, no matter how distasteful, within the Party, as a way to gain name recognition and supporters among political activists. Second, run for every office where she had a chance of winning. The latter tactic caused her to lose elections in Long Beach, but the odds were with her that she would eventually win one.

The state senate apparently was just a way station on the way to even higher office. In 2007, less than six months after winning the senate position, she announced for an open seat in Congress, but came in second to Laura Richardson. Her popularity within the Party resulted in numerous appointments, including as the student representative on the California State University Board of Trustees, and positions on the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and the obscure Southern California Association of Cities.

Oropeza’s remarkable record of running for office outshined her actual accomplishments in office. Her legislative record in highlighted by bills for various cigarette smoking bans. There is no record of her initiating bills on major issues confronting the state, nor is there evidence that she was involved in any issues specific to Venice. She did author a bill to ban smoking on state beaches but it was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. She had been away from Sacramento since May due to medical issues relating to her battle with cancer that began in 2005. Even so, her death last month seemed to be a surprise, according to family sources.

Assuming voters on November 2 decide Oropeza can do a better job as senator than any living person on the ballot, she will be elected. However, she must show up, Dec. 6, for the first day of the new legislature. If she fails to show, the governor will call a special election for the seat that will probably be held in March or April.

-Jim Smith

 

Street life on Abbot Kinney

Street life on Abbot Kinney

Last month, city inspectors banned tables and chairs from the sidewalks on Abbot Kinney Blvd. around California Avenue. At least one merchant was ticketed.

Here’s how the businesses are coping with the loss of outdoor customers one month later:

Nice Cream: The slow creep to the sidewalk.

Abbot’s Habit: How did those chairs get out there?

Casa Linda: The full Monty.

Abbot’s Pizza: No more tickets for us!

 

 

Battle of the Beach Curfew

By John Davis

In 1998 the City Joint Powers Agreement with the County of Los Angeles to operate City beaches, parking lots, and Dockweiler State Park expired. The State Park and beach consist of a large area south of Marina del Rey, an area just north of the Marina entrance, and a few acres at the end of Windward. The border begins at the center of Ocean Front Walk in Venice.

On August 26 the California Coastal Commission, a State Agency, sent a letter to Councilperson Bill Rosendahl of CD 11 which represents Venice. The letter informed “the Bill” that the city ordinance which places a curfew on the beach at night was not only a violation of the Coastal Act but also the State Constitution.

L.A.’s novice city attorney, Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich, went ballistic over the issue.

“Nuch’s” letter to Andrew Willis at the Coastal Commission accused that body of harassment: “It has not escaped our notice that you have proceeded with your “investigation” … only after the City initiated an administrative mandate proceeding in the Superior Court to challenge the Commission’s decision regarding overnight parking districts in Venice.

“If the City had not taken the Commission to court, the Commission and its staff would not now be investigating a law concerning beach hours…

“The Commission obviously intends its investigation to harass the City into abandoning its litigation against the Commission. The ongoing investigation is totally unjustified, without any legal merit, and represents retaliation…” And so forth. The letters are on the Beachhead’s website at http://www.freevenice.org.

(Additions to the article by Jim Smith)