Community Pressure Saves Vera Davis Center

By Roger Linnett

The City tried to push one past the Oakwood Community, and the Community pushed back. The result is that the city’s “done deal” of turning the social service center into an art gallery run by the Cultural Affairs Department (CAD) won’t be happening. Instead, the Community Development Department (CDD) will continue as the managing entity of the Center.

Venice and Oakwood residents in need will not be turned away when they seek help at the Center, located at 610 California Ave. While the majority of people seeking help are Black and Latino residents, Venetians of all colors and neighborhoods rallied to say no to the City’s plans.

A meeting of the Venice Town Council galvanized a standing-room only crowd of mostly Oakwood residents on April 21. Out of that meeting came petitions, coordinated phone calls and personal contacts with Councilmember Bill Rosendahl’s office and with officials of the CAD and the CDD. Neighborhood Council Board member Ivonne Guzman was instrumental in demanding answers for the sudden change in function for the Center,  answers that City bureaucrats usually didn’t have.

Self-government of the Center became a real possibility with the formation of the Vera Davis Collaborative, made up of representatives of a number of service agencies operating out of the Center that included the Latino Resource Organization, Venice 2000, Venice Bulldogs, the Tech Team and the Mildred Cursh Foundation. Outside agencies such as the Holiday Venice Tenants Association, Venice Community Housing Corporation and the Beachhead also lent their support.

In a letter to the “Tenants of the Vera Davis Community Center” dated June 20, Carolyn Weiss, Director of the Central-West Regional Area of the CDD, stated that, “Although it was the intention of the City to transfer the VDC management to the Cultural Affairs Dept., the research and discussions showed that the transfer is ‘unfeasible’ at this time.”

There were several issues that influenced the decision against the transfer, chief among them that the CDA had no staff or funding available to run the center at this time. Furthermore, an RFP (Request for Proposal) to select an agency to manage the facility would not be ready for release by the City Council for approximately 12 months.

Another factor, as reported in last month’s Beachhead, was Councilman Rosendahl’s office finding $60,000 in General Fund monies, now grown to $80,000 to run VDC for the coming year. As such the CDD intends to keep the current operating days and hours at VDC, and are amenable to schedule changes to accommodate program activities.

There will be some changes, however. Long-time Center Director, Cliff McClain, will be transferred to the Central-West administrative offices. He will be replaced by three part-time staffers under the supervision of Eddie Nuno, who will be working out of the Tom Bradley Center.

This change creates a crisis in continuing the food distribution activities, which many local residents depend on. These new staff personnel will not be able to use a City-owned vehicle for the twice-weekly trips for food procurement for the center’s free food program, which McClain had always done.  According to Ms. Weiss’ letter, the “tenant agency staff” will have to assume the expense and logistics for continuing this service. Also, Court-ordered Community Service workers will no longer be available for the center due to the lack of on-site supervision.

In a recent telephone interview, Ms. Weiss was asked about the status of the Prop K funds, and the Bureau of Engineering’s plans for the VDC. She said that the Prop K funds, $100,000 for FY2011-12, and $400,000 for subsequent years were allocated and will be available when needed.

For the next year, all the current tenants and programs will continue to operate as usual; however, tenants will need to relocate while the improvements are carried out. A portion of the $100,000 from Prop K will be used to help tenants in that effort.

When asked about the VDC’s status as an L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument, and the attendant laws concerning changes to the structure, Ms. Weiss advised that the improvements under consideration by the BOE were things like expanding restroom facilities to make them ADA compliant, and replacing old plumbing in the Spanish Colonial Revival-style edifice that was built in 1930. The structure and appearance of the building would be unaltered.

Greta Cobar and Jim Smith also contributed to this article.  

Letters

• Urges Letter Writing Campaign Opposing Blue Bus Cutback – Carolyn Rios
• Commission of Errors – John Davis
• Clarification from Boston Dawna 

—————————————————

Urges Letter Writing Campaign Opposing Blue Bus Cutback

Dear Beachhead,

We have an upcoming problem with the # 2 Blue Bus which runs from Windward Circle to Abbot Kinney, up California  to the Vera Davis Center, the Oakwood Recreation Center, Ralph’s and Rite-Aid, Mark Twain Middle School and Venice High School.

Sometime in August they are eliminating the #2 bus. They will run the # 1 bus  from Windward Circle up to Walgrove Avenue on a 20 minute frequency during peak periods only. Peak periods are 6:30 – 9:30 AM and 3:30 – 5:30 pm. Outside of those hours, the bus will only run every half hour.

Many economically-disadvantaged people live in this neighborhood, people who do not have cars. They are dependent on the #2 bus to get them to jobs, school and doctors.

Waiting a half hour will be a burden on those who don’t work normal hours, waiting a half hour will be a burden to seniors going to their doctors in Santa Monica. Waiting a half hour is potential trouble for a middle school student looking for diversion.  Waiting a half hour with your toddlers in hand is a burden. Going to the bank or grocery store or pharmacy becomes a burden when you have to wait so long.

In a few years ridership will go down, and then they will justify eliminating the Venice route altogether.

We need a letter-writing campaign to restore  service at minimal 20 minute intervals during the day, all day. This still requires waiting, but is more doable. And while we are at it, we need to ask for benches.  There are NO BENCHES at the Windward Circle. Waiting a half hour without a place to sit is onerous.
Please write your letter or call the following people

Richard Bloom, Mayor of Santa Monica
1685 Main St, Room 209, Santa Monica 90401
310-458-8201 council@smgov.net

Joe Stitcher,  Assistant Director
Santa Monica Big Bus
1660-7th St, Santa Monica  90491
310-458-1975 ext 5823 joe.stitcher@smgov.net

Councilman Bill Rosendahl
7166 W. Manchester Ave., Westchester, 90045
310-568-3946 bill.rosendahl@lacity.org

Laurel Rosen, President
Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce
1234 6th St #100, Santa Monica 90401
info@smchamber.com

Carolyn Rios
———–

Commission of Errors

 

Dear Beachhead,

Thanks to the newspaper for running the article I submitted last month, entitled Commission of Errors. The Commission did make one error, it did not provide a record that Councilman Bill Rosendhal filed a conflict of interest statement when requested.

The Commission later contacted me to provide a record that Rosendahl’s statement was filed.

John Davis

———-

Clarification from Boston Dawna

Beachhead and Miss Kennedy, Your facts are wrong. The beachhead has printed lies about me. Yes, I did neighborhood watch for almost 40 years and bought my police scanner myself. Yes, I was at the dumping site. It was right under my bedroom window.  Miss Thompson was NOT there. They plead guilty. We may not see eye to eye on certain issues but I would NEVER do anything to hurt anyone. As for any connection between Alex Thompson and myself there is NONE. We met about a month before I left Venice. Not only do I have no affiliation with her, I don’t approve of what she has done in Venice or continues to do. I have NOTHING to do with MISS THOMPSON or Miss Thompson’s web site Venice311.org. I never have and never will. Check your facts and print a retraction and an apology or we will settle this in a courtroom. Thank you Boston Dawna aka Dawna Chaet

 

 

Neighbors in an Uproar Over Condo Development

By Roger Linnett

A meeting, June 20, between prospective developers of the property at 522 So. Venice Blvd. (across from of the Abbot Kinney library) and neighborhood residents went pretty much as one might expect. The meeting room at The Bible Tabernacle Church on Washington Way was charged from the get go.

The developers were introduced by Sarah Dennison from the VNC’s Land Use and Planning Committee. Reaction to their designs for the property was one of instant and unanimous displeasure.

The part of the proposal which drew the most ire was the intention of purchasing the triangular space at the corner of South Venice Blvd. and Ocean Ave. from the city.

The residents were wholehearted against the idea of building out this area, which would substantially reduce visibility at the intersection.

Stories were told of past instances of near accidents and pedestrian-involved close calls.  Concerns were also raised about the increase in traffic on Mildred Ave., onto which the complex’s driveway would egress.

According to the developer’s consultant, Eric Lieberman, who gave the presentation, the plans call for 12 units in what is called a “small lot” subdivision. The difference from a townhouse complex being that each unit would own the ground upon which their unit stood. The units would also be separate from each other, with about six inches between them.

Although the presenters explained repeatedly that their proposal was not carved in stone, the residents were unassuaged, and the 40 or so in attendance were resolute in opposing the project.

More meetings on this controversial development are being planned. The VNC ‘s Land and Use Planning Committee is scheduled to hear from residents and any possible revisions of the developer’s plans.

Venice’s Lizard King 40 Years On

By Lynne Bronstein

It was 40 years ago on July 3, 1971, that a titan of the 1960s rock scene passed away in Paris. Jim Morrison had gone there to get away from his turbulent career as front man for the Doors. His death was officially attributed at the time to a heart attack, which seemed strange for a young man of 27 but not surprising for someone who was legendary for taking any and all physical risks.

The last 40 years have seen Morrison’s image take on all the facets of a mythical hero, the guy who lives out everyone’s fantasies. There has been an outpouring of books, films, re-released recordings, articles, web sites, new publications and recordings of Morrison’s own work, tribute bands, and a reorganized version of the Doors with a new lead singer.

The latest tribute is a bar in Paris called the Lezard King, devoted to the memory of Morrison. (”I am the Lizard King” was his boast in a lengthy musical-poetic work called “Celebration of the Lizard”.) The venue, which opened in September 2010 at 11 Rue de Tournelles, close to the Bastille, features Doors-themed décor and drinks named for Doors songs. The owner, Christophe Maillet, is described as “a hardcore fan of the Doors” who invested his life savings to build his dream, according to the bar’s web site.

According to a communiqué sent by another Doors fan, Stuart Henderson, who had in turn received information via a Facebook connection, Maillet has received a letter from lawyers representing the Doors, challenging the theme of Lezard King.

The letter asks that Maillet destroy all the decorations and change the names of the bar’s cocktails. The letter asserts that the client does not wish to see Morrison commemorated at an establishment that sells liquor.

For better or worse, the Jim Morrison image is irrevocably linked to his propensity for alcoholic consumption. At this stage, with portrayals of Morrison’s drunken binges in the Oliver Stone film “The Doors,” and numerous written accounts of his exploits, there is no denying that drink was a factor in Morrison’s life, although it was not the only thing in his life and it was not what fueled his talent. Another Doors fan, Gilles Yepremian, stated in an email to this reporter that there are about 20 bars in the Netherlands that have a Doors logo and allow smoking of grass and hash (substances that Morrison appears to not have been a stranger to either).

Henderson’s email opines that surviving Doors member Ray Manzarek has been “exploiting” the Morrison image for years. “But Jim Morrison doesn’t only belong to the Doors,” he adds.

On July 3, Paris venue Le Bataclan will feature a Doors tribute concert with former members Manzarek and Robbie Krieger. Some avid fans of Morrison are asking that fans boycott the tribute concert to show support for Lezard King and for the right of Doors fans to have their Jim Morrison.

“Jim used to speak about freedom,” says Henderson’s email. “Today, Doors impede the freedom of a fan who has just tried to achieve a dream in their honor and in the honor of the others [sic] fans.”

Back here in Venice, Jim Morrison also belongs to this beachside town. It was where he lived during his years at UCLA and for a while after that, during the formation of the Doors, from 1963 to 1966. Morrison is the George Washington of Venice in terms of having “slept here.” Several apartment houses claim to have had Morrison as a tenant, including the Morrison Apartments on Westminster Avenue. Morrison was said to have hung out at the Venice West Café on Dudley Avenue. He also frequented Olivia’s Soul Food restaurant at Main Street and Ocean Park Boulevard in Santa Monica. While it is not known if he ever actually slept at Olivia’s when temporarily homeless, the place did inspire the song “Soul Kitchen.” (”I’d really like to stay here all night”).

Jim Morrison might have been just another one of the many young people who came to Venice during the early and mid-1960s, to live as cheaply as possible in the funky old buildings or even on the beach, to live freely and to create. One Morrison story had him becoming inspired to write a lyric while he was staying on the roof of a Venice building where he was able to look out at all the TV antennas on other rooftops. This lyric became “My Eyes Have Seen You,” on the Strange Days album.

But unlike many other Venice kids, Morrison was destined to “break on through.” The creation of the Doors began with a meeting of Morrison and Manzarek on the Venice beach, where Morrison modestly admitted that he was writing songs and sang a few bars of “Moonlight Drive” to Manzarek, who then suggested they form a band. They may not have expected the impact that the band and Morrison ended up having on the world.

Venice proudly claims Jim Morrison as a “native son.” A giant Rip Cronk mural of Morrison, bare-chested, wearing his characteristic leather pants, adorns a Venice building and has become a Venice landmark in itself.

Any trolling of the Internet reveals that there is not a day that goes by without someone posting a comment on Jim Morrison-or a memory or a tribute or a description of a trip to Morrison-significant sites. There is probably not a day when one does not hear a Doors song coming out of someone’s car stereo as they drive by.

The impact of Jim Morrison on our world is immense. There is no telling what will happen with the current controversy over Lezard King in Paris but one thing is for sure-Venice can claim to be the original home town of the wandering soul of the poet-singer-lizard king.

(If you want to sound off on the issue, call: Doors Manager: Pboxs Concert: 331 40 24 02 10; Concert Venue le Bataclan: 331 43 14 00 30).

The Venice Oceanarium: The Grunion Are Running

By Tim Rudnick

Last month, June 3, the Venice Oceanarium presented its 16^th annual grunion party. Six to seven hundred hearty Venetians made their way to the beach at 10:30pm to watch these amazing fish come out of the waves to spawn. Young kids played in the surf and waited for the first of the grunion to appear. Older folks just watched. The night was moonless, but the darkness only increased the mystery of these fish.

No other fish in the world does what they do. Grunion hunting is a waiting game. At first only a few grunion appeared – two to four with each wave. The night was cool, so those not prepared for an ocean evening left early. Those who stayed began to see the numbers increase. Within an hour, 30 to 40 grunion started to “run” our shore. The excitement swelled as people began to observe the mating rituals. Many folks left at this point.

But the real reward came forty-five minutes later, just before midnight. At that time the shore became a virtual carpet of fish. Thousands and thousands of fish – everywhere glistening in the dark night. For those who waited, the night ended in a crescendo.

And how does the Venice Oceanarium know exactly when the grunion are going to run? How can they predict it six months ahead of time?

The grunion run four to six times a month from March to August. They run on the high tides of the month, usually after a full or new moon. Therefore, it is easy to predict with a simple tide calendar!

It is during these tides that the ocean climbs highest on the shore. This wet sand offers the perfect conditions for the female grunion to lay their eggs. The following tide, the next night, falls short of this wet sand where the eggs have been deposited. The fertilized eggs remain in their wet sandy womb for two weeks. When the water returns in the next high tide the eggs are ready to hatch and re-enter the ocean. Millions of young hatchlings fill the waters and stimulate the waiting schools of grunion to come onshore and continue the life cycle.

How do the first fish know just when to come ashore? Natural Selection! The fish that didn’t lay their eggs just at the high tides had their eggs washed away too early to be hatched and were eliminated from the gene pool.

The Oceanarium selects the dates for its parties very carefully. Usually the grunion are running at odd hours like 2:00 in the morning on a Tuesday or Thursday night. Obviously this is not a good time for a party. The Oceanarium has a party when the grunion run around 10:00-10:30 on a weekend. That usually happens only once or twice a year.

When the Oceanarium started having these grunion parties, hardly anyone knew the grunion ran in the middle of the city, at Venice Beach. Since then, the Oceanarium has put the Venice grunion on the map. This is important and was the main reason why the Oceanarium chose to do these parties. By identifying the presence of grunion in Venice, the Oceanarium emphasizes the importance of having a dark and quiet beach at night. And it makes the argument to keep the lights of the developing beach-front dim on the shore.

The next grunion runs will take place July 3 11pm-1am and July 4 12-2am. After that they will run again July 16 10:30pm-12:30am and July 17 11pm-1am, but these last two days are late in the season and the grunion turnout is expected to be low. For more information visit the Oceanarium’s website at http://www.veniceoceanarium.org.

Hal’s on Abbot Kinney

By CJ Gronner

I’ve spent a lot of time at Hal’s over the years … and so has most everyone else who has spent any decent amount of time in Venice. I remember when it was pretty much the only place to go on Abbot Kinney – and it being kind of scary to get to. Well, those times have clearly changed, but Hal’s hasn’t. It’s still the go to place for good food, good people, stiff drinks and a nice dose of Venice history.

I sat down recently to hear all about it with the holy trinity of Hal’s: Donald & Linda Novack, the owners and heads of the Hal’s family (and together 40 years!), and Hal Frederick, their partner, the namesake and host of all the good times. With Hal’s going on 25 years old this year, you can imagine the abundance of stories that have gone down within those walls.

Hal’s used to be a restaurant called The Merchant of Venice, an eatery/antique store where you could buy the chair you were sitting down to eat on. Donald (an ex-New Yorker) and Linda (born and raised in LA, her Mom went to Venice High) were/are in the real estate biz, and had The Merchant of Venice as a listing. That turned into a fraction of ownership, which became full ownership when the original guy shirked his bills and left Donald on the hook for a big chunk of money. Donald and Linda knew nothing about the restaurant business at the time, but had no choice but to make it work. And so they have. They recruited Hal from the old West Beach Cafe, and he has been welcoming Venice and Friends ever since. The place works because of the three of them, all playing different and crucial roles.

From the first week of business when Linda had to step over a dead body to get in the door, to last week when Sean Penn was having lunch unassumingly, obviously a lot has changed over the years. What hasn’t changed is the sense of community, and the warm feeling of neighborhood whenever you walk in the door. Hal lived above the LA Louver gallery back in the day, and got a good art education as a result, as well as long-lasting friendships with the local artists who can now be seen in museums all over the world – and right there in Hal’s. A big Ed Moses on the west wall. Joni Mitchell. Larry Bell. Judy Stabile. Laddie John Dill. Many more, ever changing. And they all like to hang out there, all the time.

Part of the reason that it feels so homey is that the faces stay the same. Hal’s has employees (96 between there and Casa Linda!) who stay. They are part of the family, and it shows. One guy was 19 when he started in the kitchen, and is now a grandfather. Francisco Morales worked at Hal’s for years, and is now their partner in Casa Linda, two doors down. Manuel Mares is the Executive Chef, who began in 1989, serving up his delicious seasonal menus (best asparagus soup I’ve ever had the other day!) year in and year out. When I asked Mr. Mares what has kept him there so long, he simply smiled and said, “Them”, looking fondly at Don and Linda. With everyone working so long together, what you get is consistency, something that is all too rare in restaurants these days. Which is why good old Hal’s is such a mainstay in Venice.

So much so that they can tell tales about a couple that met at the bar, got married there, had their anniversaries there, and recently had their son’s 21st birthday party there. Or the woman whose water broke in Hal’s, and then had that child’s Sweet 16 there. And the Grandma who had her last 20 birthday parties there. Graduations, Memorials, Rehearsal dinners, Croquet Tournament rain-outs, Good times all. Generations of memories have been created here, all adding to the family feeling that only grows deeper through the years.

A big reason for that is that everyone is welcome, and everyone feels comfortable. Never mind your ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, celebrity status, outfit … you will blend in, and you will enjoy yourself. Hal sees to that … a bon vivant, raconteur, stylish gent, he arrives to non-stop greetings four nights a week, especially the world-class jazz nights he started on Sundays and Mondays. This is a guy with good stories – like the time he was Maya Angelou’s date for President Clinton’s Inaugural Ball. And the time his childhood friend, Gregory Hines, showed up with Aretha Franklin, Sammy Davis Jr., The Nicholas Brothers and friends, and everyone danced around Hal’s. And those were just the ones off the top of his head – there are 25 years worth of tales to tell!

“Venice has something … it’s got stuff. Good stuff.” So said Donald about our community, speaking about the creativity and diversity that make up this part of the world. “If you get it, you get it, if you don’t, you don’t”, is how Don put it, and he’s right. The hippies, the fashionistas, the homeless, the travelers with guide books, all the people walking the street (walking in L.A.!!), enjoying the beach air, everyone makes up the whole. And the ones who stay and contribute to the town, are the ones who get it.

Like the Hal’s family. They contribute to the Art Walk, the Garden Tour, local schools and churches, SPARC, they’re trying to help out the Vera Davis Center now … they are INVOLVED. Which speaks to why they’ve lasted so long in a business that as Linda said, they knew “Zero” about at the beginning. They care, so we care. They want us to do well, so we want them to do well. It’s a really good model for life in general, and one that we would all do well to emulate.

Hal came from New York to Venice (”the best temperate weather in the world”) because he was an actor, on stage and screen. As they just shot some scenes for Californication at Hal’s, I asked Hal if he missed that actor life. He smiled and said, “No. There’s a curtain up here every night.”

Hal’s family … take your bows! Bravo, and may there be encore upon encore for years to come.

Coping with Shootings and Complexities in Modern Life

 

 

By DeDe Audet

How do events like shootings in Venice relate to the strange migrations of jellyfish or uterine cells in endometriosis? Linear analysis of cause leading to effect does not explain it all. That’s why police investigating shootings look for evidence before trying to figure out causes. Whenever someone says “I don’t understand why X, Y, or Z happened,” there is a very good chance that the causes are complex.

Some of us are studying the nonlinear world of complexity. Since most of our schooling is linear, it is not easy to understand how a given cause does not always produce the same effect.

As John Davis points out in the June issue of The Beachhead, the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission – an organization supposedly committed to environmental preservation – seems to be bent on destroying an environment already in place in order to make work for friends.

A few economists foretold that leveraging and home mortgage securities would cause a huge market drop. Nobody knew when, so investors kept buying the golden eggs, until it happened in 2008. In complexity theory it is called a tipping point. All of a sudden, everyone decided to back off.

No doubt you have wondered at flocks of birds in the sky wheeling and dipping in synchrony and how they all know when to turn, go up, go down. Why do people similarly like to gather together and move in the same way, from armies marching to calisthenics to flash mob dancing?

Consider how a rave occurs and you will have a clue: cell phones and texting. And what an opportunity the rave presents for big, bad persons to show off guns, make big noises, and send people to the hospital. Think how mysterious a rave or flash mob dancing would have seemed in the year 1011.

For many, many years the meteorologists have been making educated guesses about the weather. And they are getting better at it. But they are the first to admit they are not perfect. From satellites they can see circular systems arise in the Atlantic Ocean off of Africa. So what they do is “track” these systems and make educated guesses about where the system might strike. Likewise, where a tornado will hit and what it will destroy is anyone’s guess.

People spend fortunes to know the future. Politicians line the pockets of pollsters.  Fear of the unknown is the stuff of dreams and prophecy makes fortunes for fortunetellers.

Theories of complexity now lead us into new views of our weirdly wonderful world.  These views do not limit the past, but certainly put a halt to the practice of assuming that tomorrow will be a repeat of yesterday.  Humans have learned to adapt to tomorrows that do not resemble yesterday.  But the increasing complexity of this world and the speed at which it is arriving is putting a strain on the human habit of survival.

Extrapolations and averages are what drive the old fashioned systems we depend on.  Birdwatchers count a few birds at one location and add that sighting to other sightings.  From such information, ornithologists extrapolate how many of those kinds of birds may inhabit that range. They do not really know how many. They make an educated guess.

By averaging the sightings over a period of years, the ornithologist predicts how many of those birds can be expected next year. And there is the problem – what period of time is being averaged – ten years, 100, 1000? No one knows when a disaster will strike those birds, a new predator, an old disease, a forest fire that consumes the nesting area. So an educated guess is still just a guess.

It is considered useful to build mathematic models to figure what the risks of disaster are.  What the modelers use, though, is the record of disasters in the past in order to predict the likelihood of that same disaster next year. There is a chance that a vehicle driver with a record of two fatal crashes within the past five years will repeat, regardless of whether the driver is responsible or not. However, they cannot predict when a smoker will throw a lighted cigarette out the window while driving through the forest. Or when sparks from a malfunctioning vehicle will light the dry tinder on a dirt road in the forest. Or which forest.

Currently, Californians see their mountains piled high with an overload of melting snow which is filling the reservoirs with water, perhaps flooding some areas. But water companies have been experiencing years of drought conditions and they have not planned for abundance. So people are being told to conserve water and that they will have to pay more for it. Welcome to complex systems.

Groups of us in Venice have been studying complexity theory and how it affects our lives, our jobs, and our homes. Climate change tells us we have to build more flexibility into the systems needed to sustain life and we understand we must adjust.

The challenge is to get these ideas across to everyone.  A Canadian professor of English Literature popularized some of these ideas through his study of media. Marshall McLuhan said “We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.”

For more information, check out the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, where renowned scientists and researchers come together to study complex adaptive systems. If you are interested in knowing more about complexity theory in Venice, let me know at coastcom@gmail.com.  

 

100 Years Ago: 1911 Was A Banner Year in Venice – City of Venice and Venice Union High School Both Created

By Jim Smith

Venice may have been founded in 1905, but it didn’t become the City of Venice until May 29, 1911.

On that day, the good citizens of Venice voted to change its name from Ocean Park City to Venice.

Abbot Kinney, the founder of Venice, had originally been one of the city fathers of Ocean Park, an independent community in the early days of the 20th century. He broke with his partners in 1903, and developed the south end of OP into what became known as Venice. But it was still officially Ocean Park, until a petition was circulated which culminated in the overwhelming vote to call it Venice.

In 1911, Venice was a booming community. New businesses and houses were going up everywhere. The Venice Daily Vanguard reported one summer day when 35,000 people came to the beach. Imagine!

There were restaurants, hotels, theaters, free outdoor concerts, the amusement pier and bars that, contrary to neighboring cities, stayed open on Sunday.

The paper reported the astounding sale of a large home on Rialto Avenue for $6,000. Most houses went for much less.

Interested in renting? Here’s a six-room cottage, fully furnished, including a piano, for $25 a month.

Both houses are probably selling today for 100 to 200 times as much, even though they are 100 years older.

Venice needed a high school to save its teenagers a long commute to school. In short order, the Venice Union High School – a merger of the Ocean Park and Playa del Rey school districts (soon to be Venice and Playa del Rey), was created. It took over the old Bath House on the Lagoon where our Post Office is currently located.

By August, Venetians were voting on a petition from the Walgrove Avenue area and from Playa del Rey to be annexed by the new city.  It passed overwhelmingly, and swelled the size of Venice from its small beginnings as Venice of America which clung to the beach. After 1911, our city went all the way to Imperial Highway.

 

Does Venice Have A Future?

Venice has a great history. Our small community has become known worldwide for creativity, invention and alternative living.

What will it be like in 2111?

If the danger of losing our uniqueness in the sea of Angelino mediocrity wasn’t enough, we are at risk from global climate change as is the rest of the world, perhaps even more so.

Pacific storms combined with rising sea levels could rip up our beaches and flood Venice as it subsides and oceans rise.

Without cityhood, it is difficult to envision a sea wall being built in time to hold back the water.

We may have to contend with too much salt water, and not enough fresh water. Can we depend on the DWP for a steady supply of water if drought dries up the Southwest and Sierra Nevadas? Again, without cityhood can we expect a desalination plant to be built in Venice that would convert sea water to fresh water?

Rising waters may force us to return to the old days of using canals instead of streets. New housing construction may begin with long poles driven deep into the soil to keep our homes afloat.

The original Venice in the Adriatic understood that its well-being depended upon its marriage with the sea.

Likewise, as global climate change proceeds and food supplies become less abundant, we may find that our survival depends on Venice fisher folk harvesting fish, seaweed and algae.

Even if the world elites change course and take dramatic action to avert climate disaster, we’re still stuck cheek and jowl next to a larger city with a different goal – maximizing profits. And there are billions in profits to be made by converting Venice into an upscale and sterile resort for the wealthy. It’s only the tenacity of several generations of Venetians that has prevented it from happening already.

If Venice has a future it will include the poor, the middle class and the rich. There will be lots of Blacks, Latinos and whites of many backgrounds.

It will continue to be a place that honors its artists, its poets, its odd balls and dissidents. To keep Venice, with all its warts and scars, we all have to become dissidents to the dominant culture that otherwise will suck us into a shallow, zombie-like, consumerist lifestyle.

How Can Venice Be Preserved?

There are currently 24 historical districts in Los Angeles (HPOZs). There is no reason why Venice should not be the 25th.

A Venice historical district can be proposed to the City Council by our Councilmember, Bill Rosendahl.

At the least it should include the walk streets, canals, old canal district, Abbot Kinney Blvd., Ocean Front Walk and most or all of Venice west of Lincoln.

See “Neighborhood Initiatives” at laconservancy.org and zimas.lacity.org for more information.

Let’s preserve Venice for future generations.

–Jim Smith

 

Save the Venice Post Office

- Email Janice Hahn. She will likely win the runoff election, July 12, for Congress. Send an email to Elaine@JaniceHahn.com.

- Ask her to take action now to ask the Postal Service to delay a decision on selling the historic Venice Post Office until she takes office. Ask her to continue Jane Harman’s ban on the sale of any post offices in CD-36.

- Contact your other elected federal, state and city officials including:

• L.A. City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl (213-473-7011 and bill.rosendahl@lacity.org),
• U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (202-224-3553 and boxer.senate.gov/en/contact),
• U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein (202-224-3841 and http://bit.ly/iOd7qi),
• Assemblymember Betsy Butler (310-615-3515 and Assemblymember.Butler@assembly.ca.gov),
• State Senator Ted Lieu (310-318-6994 and senator.lieu@sen.ca.gov)
• Ask for their help in saving our Post Office.