• Segregation – Ian Dean
• Cell Tower at Extra Space Storage – Nancy McCulloch
• Why More Growth? – DeDe Audet

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Segregation

Dear Beachhead,

The day is November 11, 2010. And rumor has it that tonight there is supposed to be a sweep at the Rose parking lot on Ocean Front walk by the Pacific Division Police against the Venice citizens who live and reside in RV’s. If this rumor is true, the intent behind the sweep is to tow, ticket, and overall instill fear and harassment to the RV community. They will no doubt enter RV’s without permission, they will no doubt make arrests and make threats and mock the RV owners.

They will write out tickets that the people cannot afford or will tow away their homes with all their possessions inside.

This of course, is still a rumor. I will be out on OFW tonight with a camera to record everything and anything involving a badge.

There is a great sense of injustice in Venice, people are being forced out due to the selfish and yuppie like mentality that has slowly been usurping the town for the past 10 years. Homeless and Transients are being told they are not wanted, are being forced to leave. Where do they go? Does it even matter to the residents of Venice who push so hard for gentrification? It is a clear agenda by those who own property or demand a cookie cutter image of Venice against those who are the exact opposite in every sense of the word.

THIS is segregation.

I found outside of Beyond Baroque a flyer that someone had placed on the windshield of the RV, it was a flyer that basically added up to one solid message.

“WE DON’T WANT YOU HERE”

The flyer offered numbers of places to get “help”, but these places never have the right kind of help and generally are not in the area, and far away from Venice. The Flyer also provided penal codes and sanctions making it clear that what RV dwellers were doing was against Los Angeles law, and that got me to thinking.

Just because something is a law, does not make it right. And I don’t mean silly little laws based on personal preference. I mean BIG laws that were in place and oppressed people and separated them from society, and it was deemed acceptable both ethically and legally. I am talking of course about Jim Crow laws. Laws that forbade a black man from sharing a water fountain with a white man, laws that demanded that a white person would automatically receive a seat on a public bus if a black man was in it, laws that separated people simply because of what they are. And now, it’s being done again, people being rejected from a town because of where they live, many RV owners can’t afford to find housing in this town as the property values have gone up… Once affordable housing is all but extinct in this town so many RV owners live the next best way they can, but that too is now being stripped away from them. Public streets are off limits to them, The Rose lot put up ILLEGAL sanction codes that pertain to private property when the Rose lot is public that tried to banish any vehicle larger then a van.

How can anyone call it anything other then segregation? You don’t want them here because they are different and because they do not meet up to your expectations, it’s as simple as that. The trash and urine complaints are invalid because I watch tourists do just as much damage and there are a lot more of them then people who live in RV’s… but I don’t see us trying to force out tourism do I? I don’t know what utopia the people who oppose RV’s are aiming for, what I do know is the negative affects it has on the town that is renowned for open minded citizens and gritty and colorful personality. The RV community and homeless ADD that grit and personality, they help make this town what it is just as much as the art, and the music, and the skating, and the performers, and the vendors (mainly because many of the RV community ARE artists and vendors).

The solution that has been found is to segregate a class of people from living and enjoying Venice Beach, the (in my opinion) most beautiful beach on the planet. Why do I think it’s the most beautiful? Because there is no place like it on earth, and all who oppose the RV community are trying to turn Venice in to every other beach community in the world. Boring, dull, separate Why do you want to do that? Why change what the whole world COMES here to see? And for those who moved here, it was never a secret, you HAD to have known what Venice was like before you moved here… why move somewhere and then demand to change it?

The laws that are imposed against people who live out of their vehicle are unconstitutional and elitist, and the way Venice is going it looks like it’s just going to become another beach side community that has a private patrol group to keep “undesirables” out.

Black people were not allowed to live in certain areas, and now people who live in RVs are not allowed to live in certain areas.. go figure. who would have thought a town that was so multicultural and thrived on free speech would go down this way?

Shame on you Venice. Shame on you.

Ian Dean

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Cell Tower at Extra Space Storage

Dear Beachhead,

T-Mobile is planning on installing two panel antennas, three microwave antennas and one GPS antenna on the rooftop of the storage facility at 658 Venice Boulevard, just east of Abbot Kinney. The community objected to this facility a few years ago, and fought against it for three years. After many compromises and concessions, it was built with a 27′ height limitation.

I live within 300 feet of the proposed site and have many concerns. From the research I’ve read, there are many health hazards the World Health Organization admits are “possibly carcinogenic to humans based on studies of childhood leukemia”.

Not only is the proximity to homes alarming, this site is close to schools. I am aware that similar towers were rejected at Palms and Beethoven because of the close proximity to schools, which reinforces my belief that these towers have a negative impact on us, and our environment.

In addition, studies conducted can cause the disappearance of bees and small fragile birds. My friend (in the site radius) has nine fruit trees and a garden that rely on the pollination of bees, along with all the other trees and flowers, and small birds to eradicate pests.

I have T-Mobile cellular service as do many others in the site area (did a survey) and there is not a gap in our reception. I understand that T-Mobile has seven towers in a very small area of Venice (from the ocean to Lincoln – from Rose to Washington Blvd.), and  that’s just T-Mobile. Think of all the other wireless corporations!

Cell towers reduce property values. We know it is reckless to endanger our health and environment for the profit of these giant corporations. Before we put our tax paying community at more risk, we would like to see more environmental studies. We don’t know the long term effects on humans and animals. In my opinion, such towers should not be placed in residential communities until a way is found of defusing the electromagnetic frequencies, and especially the microwave radiation coming from the cell towers.

We sure can use your help by attending the hearing on Thursday, December 2 at 9 a.m. at the West L.A. Municipal Building, 2nd floor.

-Nancy McCulloch

Additional Information:

This is T-Mobile Case No. ZA 2010-0734.

Because of a federal case ruling, we cannot talk about health concerns. The city can only take into account limited considerations when approving or denying these uses:

1. T-Mobile has no “Gap” in service (already 7 or more towers in site Ocean to Lincoln, Rose to Washington);

2. Near schools;

3. Concerns about birds, bees, wildlife;

4. Property values

Voice your concerns to:

m Whitney Blumenfeld, Senior Planning Deputy

Councilmember Bill Rosendahl District 11

Whitneyblumenfeld@lacity.org • 213-473-7011

Andre Parvenu, City Planning Zoning Administration – Andreparvenu@lacity.org • 213-978-1336

Alert!!

T-Mobile has applied for variance as Abbot Kinney and Venice Blvd. on City property to install a 58’5 wooden mono pole with antennas, meter cabinets, vaults and vent stacks. No hearing date has been set – yet!

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Why More Growth?

There are more poor people in Venice today than yesterday.  These are not good times.  Yet this city, Los Angeles, plans for more growth.

Good evidence of a “Let them eat cake” attitude can be found in the current Blueprint 2010 document from the City of Los Angeles Planning Department.  It begins with a sentence about growth that inspires me to substitute some more appropriate thoughts of my own.

I can think of any number of ways to finish the sentence.  Try these:

“As Los Angeles continues to grow”

. . .more sewer lines will implode

. . .more potholes on busy streets will ruin suspension and tires

. . .more utility poles will lean toward the ground

. . .more blackouts and brownouts will turn TVs off

. . .more traffic jams, more homeless and on and on

This city is not caring for the population it already has.  What kind of wonder world are our elected officials living in that they either do not see or do not wish to see the truth?

Folks inside City Hall seem to have a dream that bigger is better. I often wonder what kind of steroids they’re on.  For far too long, cities relied on growth to solve problems.  City fathers believe that more population is the way to make more revenue.  Most elected officials will tell you the more revenue, the better.  Remember, elected officials without revenue to spend do not entice the folks who bankroll elections.

The current population of Venice is growing, but not in a direction that will bring in revenue.  In other parts of the city almost whole blocks of homes are being foreclosed and  property tax revenue goes down.  Where are those people going?  If they are lucky enough to have an RV, they could end up in Venice.  Current response by the city just moves the RVs to another street.  It is not a solution.  Entrenched city care for the indigent focuses on getting them into housing.  Does the housing industry have a lock on charity?  For heaven’s sake will someone please get it across that a person in an RV is already housed?

Now think about water and its relation to population.  If there is not enough clean water to serve everyone comfortably now, how can less be made into more to serve more people?  There certainly is a disconnect here, although there is talk about converting wastewater.  But making clean, drinkable water from wastewater takes about as much power as desalinating water from the ocean.

The few officials at Los Angeles City Hall who understand the problem are outnumbered by the know-nothings dependent on a power system run from Washington D.C. through Northern California.  But that power system is a pyramid.  Without a base to hold it up, it is worthless.  This city has a Mayor who enjoys a reputation of enjoying the company of glamorous and exciting women.  That does not impress ordinary citizens who are still hanging on to their jobs and who are getting restless.  It does raise thoughts about “Let them eat cake.”  The San Fernando Valley bunch who threatened to secede (and made it stick) are planning to dump all current Councilmembers who will be up for election in 2013.

Even though “Let them eat cake” is falsely attributed to Marie Antoinette when she was told that the people of France had no bread, the concept is valuable. Whether true or not, it did not save her from the guillotine.  Likewise, planning for growth in the City of Los Angeles at this time does not appear to be a recipe for personal political success.

So where are the minds of the people who want to plan for growth?  What city are they living in?  Isn’t it crucial for this city to care for the population already here, to plan better infrastructure, and secure sufficient clean water and power before planning for more population?  I think so.

DeDe Audet