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.

———————————–

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 72 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

————————————–

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