Letters

Dear Beachhead,

Re: “Sidewalk and bus stop taken over by New Owner of Venice Historical (sic) Post Office”

As one of my neighbors pointed out, Angelica Huston (misspelled Houston) had nothing to do with removing Venice’s historic colonnades on Windward Avenue. It was Robert Graham. Huston is guilty only if you consider women to be clones of their husbands.

I trust the next issue will correct the statement that a woman was to blame.

Jim Smith

P.S. I doubt that Huston was the last millionaire to move to Venice.

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Dear Beachhead,

Thank you for your recent article concerning Overnight Parking/RVs/Campers. The streets are not free. All residents and citizens pay for their preservation and maintenance. The Coastal Commissioners are hypocrites.

Playa del Rey, Hermosa Beach, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica and Redondo Beach, all have signs that are near the seashore or Beach which restrict overnight parking of all vehicles of any size all the time. The signs in Playa del Rey were installed 30 years ago. No surfers, vendors or fishermen have ever complained. Never. Restricting public access to the beach is a mere fabrication.

LAMC 85.02 makes it illegal to lodge or sleep in your motor vehicle from time to time and overnight. This will not be accomplished in a public parking lot or street. It is illegal.

The oversized vehicle signs are designed to assist and help LAPD merely enforce our laws. The streets are free and public. The RVs and Campers cannot invade a public street and merely stay in a parking spot for many months or years and claim that space as their own property land. Adverse possession does not apply to a public street. There are 2000 free parking spaces for RVs and Campers at LAX.

We have short memories. Are our public streets dedicated for the Campers and RVs to extract and remove “human waste” pumped onto the streets?????

Loyal Reader and Fan,

Michael Millman

Dear Michael Millman,

Thank you for writing in regards to my article published last month. Yes, all citizens pay for the preservation and maintenance of streets, therefore the streets need to be available to everyone, not just the residents. 

The Coastal Commission was born as a result of a public vote concerning the Coastal Act of 1976. Therefore, the majority of voters agreed with the Commission’s mission of treating the Coastal Zone as different from other parts of the state. Your opinion that the Coastal Commissioners are hypocrites may be different from the majority of voters in California.

The Coastal Commission has the right to treat each coastal zone differently when it comes to parking restrictions depending on several issues, such as beach access and parking availability. Santa Monica’s landscape and the number of parking garages available is quite different than the situation here in Venice.

LAMC 85.02 has nothing to do with Overnight Parking Districts (OPDs). Furthermore, using OPDs as an excuse to selectively target people sleeping in vehicles is against the law.

There are other measures in place to prevent a vehicle from occupying the same spot for over 32 hours, but selectively enforcing that on people living in vehicles is against the law as well.

Who do you think is going to dump more waste on the street: someone living in a vehicle or someone sleeping on the street? The Jones Settlement prevents you from removing a person taking shelter during the night in front of your house. Vehicles can be eliminated, people cannot.

Thanks for reading and supporting the Beachhead!

Sincerely,

Greta Cobar

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Dear Beachhead,

With decisions pending on Overnight Parking Districts, which I strongly oppose, there is no way I can support Eric Garcetti for mayor. Allow me to explain.

I was living in Silver Lake (the 13th LA City Council District) when Jackie Goldberg was our City Council person. As Silver Lake was becoming more and more “Hipster invested” and gentrified, rumblings were being heard about bringing Permit Parking to the area. Most of the long-time Silver Lake residents and Jackie Goldberg herself were opposed to it. When Goldberg went to the CA State Legislature for a few months, the district was without a seat on the City Council, so nothing could be done for or against Permit Parking.

Then election time rolled around and it was time for the 13th District to fill its seat on the City Council. I did not support Eric Garcetti then either. Instead I voted for Jackie Goldberg’s brother. Garcetti won and has been on the City Council ever since. His election brought with it almost immediate changes to the 13th District. Only weeks after he took his seat on the Council, much to the dismay of its residents, Silver Lake got Permit Parking. And the flood gates were opened to developers and hyper gentrification. Not  unlike what is happening in Venice now.

On a strictly anecdotal level, I was friends (and still am) with a person who worked on Eric Garcetti’s first campaign for City Council. She was so appalled by his about face on issues and stances he took during the campaign, that she swore she would never work on another candidate’s campaign ever again.

Gruel or Garcetti, neither one is progressive. And I expect whoever gets into office to be as big a disappointment as our present Mayor has been. But who ever you vote for we here in Venice should all be steadfast against OPDs! If they come to be, Venice will lose a great deal of the freedom and character that brought us here to begin with.

Thank you,

Anthony Castillo

Venice 90291

Dear Free Venice Beachhead Family

 

Esteemed greetings and utmost respects is extended to all of my Venetian Brethren!!

My name is Nicholas Anthony Sena and I was raised in Venice and love my hometown deeply!! I’m certain that this missive is very different from the norm, but I was inspired by our community’s nature, and your work with Beachhead, to share some of my story with my family and neighbors, to hopefully give back to a community that I took so much from in my life …

Where do I even begin … Well, my story is unique for a number of reasons, but won’t surprise a true Venetian, I’m sure!! I grew up with my “Godfather,” Mike Bonafede, on Superba Avenue at 950. After battling and defeating a heroin addiction, my “Dad” and I moved there from the SFV when I was perhaps 5, in 1990 or so. I loved it!!

I recall riding my bike to Alan’s Aquarium, the Boardwalk, and randomly down the walkways, Courts, and Avenues between Lincoln and the Beach … The eccentric milieu molding my views of life and Community.

Around 10, I started going into the “System”, and being bounced from place to place, facility to facility, until finally, after becoming delinquent, I ended up in Juvenile Hall. At 13, I was allowed back home with Mike, but kismet was to have me soon wrapped up in the Herculean tentacles and dragged into an abyss by the massive blue octopus that was the Venice Shoreline Crips!! As you know, Oakwood in general, at least a the time, and the VSLC’s specifically, is a black gang.

But despite the seemingly incongruous coupling, (As I am of Italian descent), I was embraced and accepted with love!! This internecine contract would soon permeate every part of my being, as I became entrenched in the recidivist and ignorant phenomenon!!

I began going to “Juvi” more often, and finally CYA, where I was constantly accosted and attacked for my race in relation to my chosen Black gang ties!! Fortunately as a youth, a neighbor had trained me in the martial arts of Muay Thai and Gracie (Brazilian) Jiu-Jitsu. I was more than capable of defending myself, and preemptive offensives.

After three years in CYA, I was released upon our Avenues, more criminally minded and VSLC active than ever. A few months shy of my 18th Birthday, I quickly assimilated back into my Ghost Town roots, and began the parasitic behaviors that now disgust me (e.g. Crack sales, violence, etc…)

On June 13th, 2003, PAC Division arrested me in L.A. for a murder that had occurred 4 days prior in front of Red Hot Video … I was flabbergasted! I had NOTHING to do with the crime whatsoever, and despite weak evidence, contradictory witness accounts and no real proof of my guilt ( I had an incompetent lawyer, a former “customer” of my crack sales, one JJ Little) I was found guilty on December 15th, 2005 at Airport Court, and sentenced to 14 years to life. My path had put me in a direct collision course with an unfathomable destiny, despite my innocence.

Once in prison, the relentless fusillade of ridicule and physical attack continued. As I sill adhered to the ignorant ideologies I’d been imbibed with by the VSLC propaganda program, and because I had no funds to pay for legal counsel and prove my innocence, I was stuck and remain so.

In 2006, I changed my life, my priorities, and how I viewed life. I cut my VSLC ties and dedicated myself completely to the martial arts sciences. After  thousands of hours of study, training, and cogitations, I’ve developed my own system and life philosophy in an expression I coined “Muay Sena” with Thai and Japanese influences, as well as Buddhist principles for life. In 2009, I was attacked by a Crip wielding a knife, for my disavowing of the Crips, and a new path. I defended myself from his attempts to murder me and with only a few kicks, and in a very non-excessive manner, thwarted his attack, resulting in his unfortunate death. I now am fighting the death penalty in Kings County Court, for defending my life in this now macabre Catch-22 of events.

I’m on my own in prison, with no support from loved ones, really. That ended years ago, despite peoples’ periodic pop-ups when it’s convenient. I remain stalwart, positive and productive, working on  books on martial arts now, and trying to change my life and be a compassionate, good and progressive man despite my Draconian circumstances,  and seemingly Sisyphean struggle for freedom, self-betterment and redemption.

This is compendious at best. I just felt compelled suddenly to share my story. However concisely, in hopes of somehow touching someone’s life in some way. I seek to build, no longer destroy, to somehow share my radical change for the better and show that even from the stagnant bowels of injust incarceration, people are capable not only of self-change, but exacting change in others. I now study Buddhism (Therauada and Zen) and really feel the precepts, or guidance, and feel I need to make myself, my journey, and my “Suffering” as we say, known to the the world. What better place to start than where it all started. Venice is my Genesis. It has dictated my life’s course in many ways, and despite my change, it remains my heart’s home.

I must say, this letter isn’t very eloquent, or well thought out. I received my first Beachhead and it just ignited an irresistible urge to extend my hand to you all, so I decided to borrow a stamp and envelope and legal paper (all I have) and let my heart and mind flow freely. In the Venetian way.

I truly hope that this meets the eyes of whoever it needs to. You can find my photos,. etc, at “Prisonpenpals.com/f2o416.html” as well.

Straight forward in solidarity, with true Venice love,

Nick (aka Ninja Nut Case)

Letters

Dear Beachhead – Erica Snowlake

Dear Beachhead – Lisa Green

Dear Beachhead – Don Schraier

Dear Beachhead – Stephen Lindow

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Dear Beachhead,

WOW!

A LOVE SUPREME! for a fantastically great issue of the Beachhead this moon! Y’all r rocking it! There’s so many amazing artists in Venice and I, for one, always thrill to learn more about them.

And, as always, The Beachhead is to be proudly commended for its enduring support and respect for those finding themselves…on the outside looking IN. Peace, Compassion and a Creative Reality-for-the-people and-of-the-people is the Spirit that will transform our nation!

Even as I’ve gone AWOL (always west of Lincoln….as far west as Hawaii these days…..), the Beachhead continues to transport me to the Venice-by-the-Sea of our dearest dreams.

Gracias! Kiss Kiss!

Erica Snowlake

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Dear Beachhead,

An LAPD Officer recently informed the owner of Henry’s Market, Shlya, that some neighbors nearby are calling in complaints about the people outside her store. Those people are often homeless, by our culture’s definition, and many have lived here in Venice for years. Also Shyla, whose father opened the store many years ago, is in a legal squabble with the landlord. Shyla says she’s being pressured by the landlord to move out. Shyla and her partner Rene are not giving up without a battle.  I want to assist them, will you join me?

Henry’s isn’t only a small business struggling to stay afloat with ”big corporate” CVS a couple of blocks away, but now is having to address complaints about accepting E.B.T . For those of you that do not know, EBT is sorta like the “debit card of the poor”. I have an E.B.T card myself. Yeah, I receive public assistance to feed myself. I am not alone (check here for stats http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/foodstamps/PG844.htm.)

The program is called Calfresh. The DPSS website states that the CalFresh Program helps to improve the health and well-being of qualified households and individuals by providing them a means to meet their nutritional needs. CalFresh benefits can be used to purchase foods for human consumption, and seeds and plants to grow food for household use. Rene has told me more than once that these days the majority of the business comes from those that use E.B.T. That includes housed and non housed E.B.T. recipients.

What makes Henry’s Market an even more important part of my existence is that Shyla added a kitchen some time ago to adapt to the times. I, along with others that meet the qualifications of restaurant meals program, can purchase hot meals, cooked to order, and salads including vegan and vegetarian options. Who’s qualified, you ask? Those defined as homeless, the elderly, and the disabled.  I usually go for the oatmeal with honey & fruit for breakfast, and the black bean burger and fries for lunch.  I buy a coffee or tea everyday, too.

Using my E.B.T. card at Henry’s Market is my way to support a local Venice business, and to utilize the public assistance that is a life line to many of us. Also,  I like Shyla and Rene. They’re good people. I encourage others to share their story. Let’s get them some media coverage, or call them at the number above to inquire about how to assist them. I work everday doing what I love, being an artist in Venice. I’m not going anywhere and I hope Henry’s Market isn’t either. Spread the word!!!

Definition at wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification

Calfresh program

http://www.calfresh.ca.gov/PG846.htm

Restaurant meals program

http://www.ebtproject.ca.gov/clientinformation/calfreshrmp.shtml

Henrys Market close to Rose Ave and Ocean Front Walk

9 Dudley Ave Venice, CA 90291

(310) 392-4365

–

Lisa Green, Venice Artist

Love is the strongest power in the universe

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Dear Beachhead,

When I was a kid, there were trolleys running down the Boardwalk from Bingo parlor to Bingo parlor, there was a salt-water plunge on the Boardwalk, Pacific Ocean Park pier was a little past Rose. The biggest concession on the beach was umbrella rentals.

Today there are clothing franchises (all the T-shirts and sweatshirts are exactly the same) usually owned by Asians and most of the entertainers have moved to the mall in Santa Monica where tips are better, but there are still pot clinics every fifty feet, and homemade art and jewelry on the beach side.

The canals used to be filled with tar-paper shacks in need of repair and the water was so dirty the ducks wouldn’t even swim in it. Today there are million dollar homes and the water is clean.

Venice has been changing ever since there was a Venice and to lament the old giving way to the new is an exercise in futility at best, and plain stupid at its worst.

I’ve been a resident here for forty years now and have seen Venice in all its incarnations, from Dogtown to a nice skate park, and all the rest. This is called  progress and as far as I know, there is no way to stop change, and as far as I can see, why would anyone in their right mind want to.

The people I know in Venice are still liberal and try to fight for the right things: gay rights, immigrant equality, fair taxes on the rich, the environment, and the betterment of the planet. The right for all good things to have a chance to exist.

The spirit of Venice is not being eroded and is definitely not disappearing. Venice has always had a Phoenix-like nature and rises from the ashes to become whatever new thing it becomes, and so should it be.

Welcome the new, whatever it is, and the spirit will stay alive.

Don Schraier

Pacific Avenue

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Dear Beachhead,

I picked up the latest issue and enjoyed its articles. The one on the gun debate was strong in that I’d not read a mention of another Civil War impending over the issue. I also enjoyed the anti-gentrification article —very interesting. I’ve recently moved to CA from FL, and I was happy to read a little about this history.

Stephen Lindow

Letters

Letters

Buddy Clark’s Store on Lincoln – by Lisa Green

Dear Beachhead – by Don Schraier

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Dear Beachhead,

I wanted to let others know that Buddy Clark has opened a thrift store on Lincoln Blvd. The address is 835 Lincoln Blvd., at the intersection of Lincoln Blvd and Brooks, across from the pet store. The hours are 7 – 7, seven days a week. Buddy spoke of his desire to open a thrift store in town that would also work as place for meetings, as well as a technological hub. Well, he did it! Stop by to buy, sell, or trade merchandise. My friend, Gerry has already booked the space for an upcoming event, another friend, Clay is doing computer repairs onsite, and today, as I was meeting with Buddy about his vision, my friend Antoinette arrived to drop off donations, as guided on the phone by another friend, Ivonne. Buddy envisions a community thrift store and wants suggestions, so tell him what’s on your mind!!

Lisa Green,

Venice Artist

Dear Beachhead,

Do you think your mission of a Free Venice might be a little outdated?

The Beat, the HIppie eras have been over for fifty, sixty years now.  Beachfront properties are very expensive.  Do you still think Venice must be a haven to the homeless and the marginally indigent?  Venice Beach has had a longer than usual run and it might be time to be thankful we had that and try to adjust to the time that is now.

Don Schraier, 40 year Venice resident

The Beachhead Collective responds: No, Sir. We completely disagree

Letters

Letters:

Dear Beachhead – by Daniel Carrillo, Weott State Prison

Dear Beachhead – by Ron Lowe

Dear Beachhead – by Charles Thomas

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Dear Beachhead,

Sending this letter in response to let you and your staff know that I very much highly appreciate the fact that you were able to send me the newspaper. Thanks to you.

Also at the same time thank you for taking the time and patience and giving me the opportunity to know and read on what’s happening in the neighborhood.

With all due respect,

Daniel Carrillo

Weott State Prison

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Dear Beachhead:

Letter writers and pundits and soothsayers who support the Republican anti-tax scam have another problem on their hands besides the re-election of

President Obama. California now has a Democratic majority in the state Senate and Assembly.

No longer will the Republican anti-tax jihad be able to hold the California state budget hostage every year as the Democratic majority can now bring in

additional revenue and make the state solvent (the ability to pay debts). The super rich will share more in the state’s tax burden.

This is what Republicans have been clamoring about, right? Balancing the state’s budget and getting a handle on the deficit. Republicans got their wish.

With Democrats in control and the Republican anti-tax corpse sidelined the state may function as it is suppose to.

And, this is a warning to the fanciers of the Republican anti-tax conundrum in states around the country and in the U.S. government. Your days are numbered as fiscal balance and sanity is highlighted in California.

 

Sincerely,

Ron Lowe

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Dear Beachhead:

Thank you so much for printing my article last month regarding the plight of stray cats at the Lincoln Place Apartments (LP). I believe it was helpful to get the word out and raise awareness so we can work together finding permanent placement for these beautiful animals.

I wanted to take the opportunity to remind everyone that the Stray Cat Alliance (SCA) is still working to find homes for the cats collected from LP. Also, in the process of “rounding up” cats, SCA knows that cats from the neighborhood go wandering at LP too. AIMCO is beginning major construction activities at LP, some of which involve fumigation. All neighbors in the area are asked to please keep your cats inside, as LP is a potentially dangerous environment for your little ones. The Lincoln Place rental office is reached at (310)396-3117 for dates and times on construction activity.

If you are unable to adopt an LP cat, please consider providing foster care. Fostering would be helpful to SCA, as SCA is paying boarding expenses for some cats taken in. There are several ways to help and SCA can be contacted at the website – www.straycatalliance.org.

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Charles Thomas

Letters

Give Obama Another Chance!

As an Iranian-American who voted for Obama four years ago, I would like to give him another chance in this election to accomplish his goals. If Romney moves into the White House, he will stick to his guns and God, bomb Iran, deport millions of Latino immigrants, limit women’s control over their bodies, cut benefits for the poor, elderly and disabled, abolish Obama care, ignore the catastrophic impact of greenhouse emissions on the environment, choose more conservative members for the Supreme Court, destroy NPR and PBS, and so on… With his anti-government ideology, Romney will kill all the jobs that Obama’s economic stimulus package has created in the last four years. Obama models his plan for economic recovery on FDR’s successful New Deal, and Romney on Bush’s disastrous selloff of the country to billionaires.

Obama’s election to the office was historical because it gave America a chance to come to terms with its racist past. Romney wants to “take back America,” that is, he wants to hold back America from progress toward racial equality. For Romney, Obama’s first term was only an aberration from the norm. If we give Obama another chance, America will have a golden opportunity to strengthen a colorblind democracy.

For those of you who want to vote for Romney, I have a deal. If you live in Ohio, Iowa or Florida, I can switch my vote with yours. You vote for Obama in your related states and I will vote for Romney in California!

Sincerely, Majid Naficy

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I want to extend my sincere congratulations to Carol Tantau — on receiving the Marjorie Braude Award for Carol’s wonderful work on the Domestic Violence Task Force.

Carol is a constituent from the 11th District and a true leader on a variety of issues, as well as a dedicated volunteer to the causes that are close to her heart.

Carol has taken a leadership role on behalf of small businesses owners in Venice, especially those along Abbot Kinney.

Today we are honoring Carol for another hat she wears — as a domestic violence victim advocate.

Back in 2008, the Free Venice Beachhead recognized Carol as A Few Of The Notable Women Of Venice Who Are Involved In Their Community for her work as a victim advocate.

And here she is today — four years later — still doing great work for the people of the 11th District.

Congratulations Carol and thank you for your contributions to the community.

Sincerely,

Bill Rosendahl

Letters

Dear Beachhead,

How strange, cops from  Hollywood  division and Alex Thompson on an arrest at the same place at the same time.Thompson gets pics and story for the front page of her website Venice311. Thompson gets the scoop and feels like a hero, making someone look bad to the public. Regardless of his past or his relationship with the LAPD beach detail.  Doesn’t Reina work at Hollywood division? Wasn’t he the Sgt at the beach detail? Does Thompson have proper media credentials? How did Thompson get the information about the arrest in Santa Monica?

Just one on a list of their enemies (dirtbags) of Reina & Thompson from the beach. This is exactly what I was talking about, Thompson getting police information.I hope the department is as concerned as the residents about this seeming inappropriate activities. Is the relationship between Lt Reina or LAPD and a convicted felon of retaliation and revenge approved department policy?

My information is Thompson has taped Solomon on the beach and gave the tape to the victims family in Hollywood. How in Gods name did she even know about the incident or family information if this is true? I would hope your inhouse internal affairs investigation is not complete and this is just more proof of their unsavory relationship.

How many other victims are out there? I am just one of many with Thompson getting a restraining order against me being 3000 miles away and unable to defend myself. Other restraining orders, lawsuits, a number of evictions, arrests of innocent people, accusations and dismissed felony cases.  LAPD has just  thrown more salt in the wounds of intimidation, retaliation and revenge from Thompson and all her aliases.  This reign of terror and people looking over their shoulders has to stop. Thompson is a criminal and she should be  treated as such, not the golden girl LAPD thinks she is.Everyone now sees the truth and is closely watching all the incidents adding up. Why doesn’t LAPD?

Boston Dawna

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Dear Swami,

Thanks so much for that wonderful commentary. I lived in Venice between 1981 and 83, and heard you many times, and you even made it onto my hand-made xmas card one year, as i drew a picture of you eulogizing from a bench along the Boardwalk. I know life up on Oakland. I was searching tonight to see if I could conjure up one of your great lines, something to the effect, “Yes, as you know, We in Disneyland have a lot of dues to pay”. I’m sure that was a set up for a joke somewhere in there, but can’t remember how you finished up that by-line.

I had just graduated from UCLA, and was living on Ozone Avenue back in 1982. As you might know from the T shirt that some were wearing back in that day, “There’s No Zone like the Ozone”.

Courtney Miller

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The Shameful State of Homelessness in LA

Each night, there are 48,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County. That’s more people than 1 ½ times the population of Venice and of those, 20% are physically disabled, 25% are mentally ill, and about 10% of them are children. Take a moment to let that sink in.

There’s a lot to feel ashamed of in those numbers and I could throw down a long list of other statistics that would make you sick to your stomach – like the fact that more than ¼ of all those homeless people are in families headed by single mothers, or that 41% of our homeless adults were employed within the last year.

Your politics aside, these people are a part of our community and there is an economic, social, and environmental cost to allowing this issue to continue festering. Each homeless person is lost potential economic productivity. Every trip to the emergency room or jail is taxpayer money. Any crime by or against the homeless population diverts vital funds from schools to public safety. But, most importantly, it’s a self-sustaining blight against humanity.

I don’t want to get into the conversation of why or how a person is homeless. To me, it’s irrelevant. Either that person made bad choices, caught some bad luck, or simply couldn’t avoid it for whatever reason. My worry is the drag on our community and when I speak of “our community”, I’m talking about everybody – homeowner, renter, entrepreneur, and homeless person.

I think it’s obvious why we need to act now for the benefit of the homeless. How can that person take care of himself or contribute to the community when he doesn’t even have the basic privacy to go to the bathroom or change his clothes? Should we let someone who can’t make a better choice just slip off to hide in the shadows of our streets? Do our teachers have any chance of helping a kid whose only time to relax is in the safety of a classroom?

Did you know that homeowners in Venice pay a median property tax rate of $6,711 per year? The median rent in Venice for a 1 bedroom apartment is $1,995.  What does the city of Los Angeles owe the person who pays that each year? A street full of RVs? I recently met a young father who had to explain to his 5-year-old daughter why a homeless man was peeing on the sidewalk in front of their house one morning. I just saw the same thing happen this morning when I took my own daughter to school.  Is that okay?

I don’t think that anyone on our city council lacks compassion, but it takes more than feeling sorry for someone to fix a problem that affects every corner of society. It takes the political will to spend the money and time to change things.

And if we don’t do it now, when? We’re in an era of high foreclosures, empty housing, and nearly zero interest rates. Will tackling this problem head-on ever be less expensive, or should we wait until all of the homeless children grow up? Every single person has value in our society, but they can’t begin to tap the unlimited potential for human greatness that resides within us all until they have the security of a room.

Odysseus Bostick, teacher and candidate for Los Angeles City Council in District 11

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Dear Beachhead,

I was reading the Beachhead and wanted to make another correction to Paul Tanck’s correction about Olivia’s. Yes, it was in Santa Monica, not Venice, but Olivia’s Place on Main Street in the 1960s was NOT where the surf and skate shop ZJ Boarding House is located today. No, it was across the street in small low rise storefronts where California Heritage Museum is today (remember they moved those Victorian houses from Ocean Ave in the 1980s to the current location). The original buildings were torn down. 2618 Main was on the west side of the street.

I used to eat at Olivia’s with my dad in high school. Maybe I sat next to Jim Morrison.

Thanks,

Karina

Letters

Beth Allyn

Peggy Lee Kennedy

                                               

Hi Mary,

A friend just shared your “Venice is a Poem” with me. Thank you, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would love to meet you and have you share your memories regarding this very special place with me. I love our little piece of Heaven on Earth.  Regardless, I wish you all the best and thanks again for sharing your memories with all of us.

Peace and Light,

Beth Allyn

                                                

Dear Beachhead,

The 2^nd Annual Sleep Out for the unHoused/homeless was successful in many ways. The food was incredible: hummus, breads, pies, salads, vegetarian chili, rice, soup, chips, dips, lots of fruits and vegetables plus more food (I can’t remember it all). The movie, Rubber Tramps, was very well received. The music, dancing, and the speakers were entertaining. A free yoga class was conducted and the unHoused Game was simply incredible. The organizers, Occupy Venice, were very organized and things went off almost without a hitch. The characters were a plenty and it is Venice so we have a few stories to laugh about later. I think everyone had fun and some awareness was raised with the theme of this year’s sleep out. We need to try to come together as a community and work toward positive humane solutions to homelessness. And we need to tell our public officials that’s what we want.

Peggy Lee Kennedy

Letters

Carole Lee Walsh

Sylvia Aroth

Paul Tanck

Dear Beachhead,

I was at the Brick House Sunday and having to wait, picked up your newspaper. Needless to say, it’s a great local paper. I was shocked to hear that Solomon was the victim of police brutality.

He is a main attraction on the Boardwalk. My out of town friends are dazzled by his presence. I do recall two police officers were literally scratching their heads standing about 30 feet from Solomon some years back when he was new to the scene.  But he is exactly why we love the Boardwalk.  It brings all the colorful people out:  Solomon, the marijuana pipe guy,  Harry Perry, et al.

I could not help but wonder if Solomon were a cute chick in a bikini if there would have been any fuss. It would be interesting to explore this idea to see how the officials respond. Would this come under free speech? Rights to religious freedom?

Does Solomon sell anything?  Does he have to pay for a space on the VBW?  How do you license a person expressing themselves? Is that not what he is doing?

Sincerely.

Carole Lee Walsh

Dear Carole,

Thanks for reading the Beachhead and thanks for your words of encouragement. Solomon does not sell anything and he does not have to pay for a space, but the police do harass him for performing out of designated spaces. During the Lottery system of allocating spaces each performer had to pay for a yearly permit. Solomon was one of the few performers who never purchased such a permit and received tickets as a

result. The Lottery system was deemed unconstitutional since, but the police harassment continues.

The Beachhead

                                                          

Dear Beachhead,

I discovered Venice in the late 60’s, while attending UCLA, and fell in love. I loved its diversity, culturally, ethnically and socio-economically. The only beach community like it.

But it’s been changing, gentrifying and, recently, at an alarmingly rapid pace.

The targeting of the unhoused is symptomatic of this change. We should abide by the Jones Settlement and provide for certain needs of the unhoused, such as bathroom facilities and a safe place to store their belongings. That would be the Venice I know and love.

Venice has been a Bohemian community for most of the past century. Let’s keep it that way. And if you don’t like that aspect of Venice, move, but don’t try to change my Venice.

Sincerely.

Sylvia Aroth

                                                                      

Dear Beachhead,

Recently I heard a radio DJ discussing the Doors song “Soul Kitchen” and how it had been inspired by a Venice restaurant known as Olivia’s. I heard of this old Venice hang-out in passing, and immediately became inquisitive as to how this possibly misinformed DJ guy would describe her restaurant as being in Venice. Based on legend alone, I guessed Morrison wrote the song about his favorite hangout.

After some web-searching, I found Olivia’s was most likely located at the corner of Main St. and Ocean Park Av., definitely old-time Ocean Park. Definitely NOT Venice! But why, I wondered, is this misleading truth still being put out onto the masses? And why hasn’t this Rock‘n’Roll crime been rectified?

Olivia’s was not in Venice… OK?!! And this is why: Olivia’s, 2615 Main St., was a popular soul food restaurant whose patrons were mostly UCLA students. Jim loved Olivia’s, which was the inspiration for the song “Let me sleep all night in your Soul Kitchen.” It is currently the location of the surf and skate shop ZJ Boarding House.

In his book “Riders on the Storm,” John Densmore wrote about Olivia’s restaurant: “Olivia’s. A small soul food restaurant at the corner of Ocean Park and Main. A roadside diner that belonged in Biloxi, Mississippi. The place was packed, as usual. The restaurant that Jim later memorialized as the ‘Soul Kitchen’ was full of UCLA film students. It looked like an Amtrak dining car got stuck at the beach.”

Anyhow, it seems that Olivia’s was really more of a lost, dreamland kinda place, in restaurant eternity, on Main and Ocean Park. Definitely not Venice!

Paul Tanck

Dear Paul,

Thanks for the clarification. The Beachhead’s ad from the September 1969 issue shows that you are almost right. Olivia’s Place was located at 2618 Main St., Ocean Park.

Many thanks,

The Beachhead

Letters

Letters

• Thanks for the Metaphors – Jim Smith
• Inspired – Cory Schumacher
• Response to Patrick Frank’s “Even More POed at the PO – Alan Arch

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Thanks for the Metaphors

Dear Beachhead,

Three months ago I gave notice of leaving the Collective that publishes this paper. Now it’s time to step aside. Working on the Beachhead for the past 10 years has been a labor of love. But I believe each person is more than the job or role he or she performs. So, it is time to put away this mask and just be myself.

Many things in Venice are called unique, but the Free Venice Beachhead truly is. It is the last underground newspaper still alive and kickin’ from the Sixties. It has become the “paper of record” for Venice.

In addition to all the great friends I’ve made while performing my Beachhead duties, I take pride in having contributed in a small way to saving Lincoln Place, stopping lots of development schemes that would have only hurt the community, and lighting a spark of remembrance that will, I’m sure, result in a permanent memorial to the shameful treatment our Japanese neighbors were subjected to during World War II.

My only regret is that there is not a mass movement for cityhood at present. That task will be for those who will follow in the footsteps of John Haag, Rick Davidson, Carol Fondiller and all the others who have heroically stood in the path of Los Angeles bulldozers, both physical and political, and proclaimed Venice a sacred space.

I will now join the exalted ranks of Beachhead readers, who are of course, the most important part of this newspaper. If you’ve enjoyed any of the things I’ve written during these past years, you can best show it by making a donation, or becoming a sustainer, of this unique publication.

Jim Smith

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 Inspired

Dear Beachhead,

I really enjoyed the articles written in the May Beachhead by Vanessa Cabello, Jim Smith, and Marisa Peck. I think you everyone at Beachhead is doing a great service to the community of Venice. You inspire people to help out Venice, and you put pride into every Venetian.

Keep up the good work!

Best Regards,

Cory Shumaker

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Response To Patrick Frank’s
“Even More PO’d at the P.O.”(from Venice Beachhead “Letters” June 2012)

“…I won’t be sad to see that post office go, for several reasons…. It’s ugly in there…. The mural is historic, but it’s also very weird.” – Patrick Frank

I believe we live in a world where people might benefit more from writing with the hope to preserve “weirdness” in public places, rather than writing with aspirations of erasing it.

I for one could use just about as much weirdness as I can get from Monday to Sunday. Seems like these days, I have to practically search for weirdness from the time I roll out of bed in the afternoon. And sometimes I find it close to impossible to find any. Anywhere.

Sure, there’s the human stage of Ocean Front Walk, or the random colorful dispensary parking lot alleyways, but nothing does it for me quite like a good old fashioned giant “weird” mural. And finding one of those weird murals in a federal institution can be a down right staggering experience for the senses.

Weirdness doesn’t taste any sweeter than when it’s helping you zone out of day to day reality…. like staring at Abbot Kinney rising out of the doorway at the “ugly” US Post Office in Venice, CA.

My advice? Embrace the weirdness, Patrick. It may be the only real thing left in this sunshine complacent world.

Peace,
Alan Arch

Inspired – Cory Schumacher
Inspired – Cory Schumacher