web analytics

Rss

Venice News Updates

News of Venice, CA and Marina del Rey CA

HUD Proposes No Housing for Undocumented

Posted by :reta On : June 14, 2019
1

Category: Department of Housing and Urban Development, Homeless, Housing

On May 10, 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a proposed rule change which, if approved, would restrict the ability of “ineligible” immigrants, including those who are undocumented, to reside in federally-assisted public housing and housing-choice voucher assisted housing. LAHSA strongly opposes this proposed change, which would send thousands more Angeleno households to the brink of homelessness.

At present, ineligible immigrants are able to reside in federally-assisted housing (including public housing and voucher-supported units) as long as they are part of a “mixed-status” family, meaning at least one member of the household has an eligible immigration or citizenship status. In these cases, subsidies are pro-rated based on the number of eligible members in the household. HUD’s proposed rule change, however, would require that all residents and leaseholders of federally-assisted public housing or voucher-supported units be verified as eligible. As a result, this proposed rule change has the potential to severely impact thousands of mixed-status families, forcing them to choose between separating or staying together and facing eviction.

The proposed rule, if enacted, could impact around 11,000 individuals receiving benefits through the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) as part of a mixed-status household. The Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA) also estimates that just under 500 mixed-status households would be impacted as well. Additionally, by removing ineligible immigrants and thus eliminating “pro-rated” subsidies, HUD would need to increase national spending between $193 to $227 million annually to maintain assistance to the same number of individuals.

Encampment Update — 14 June 2019

Posted by :reta On : June 14, 2019
0

Category: Encampment, Homeless, post office, Uncategorized

(14 June 2019) The bad news is that Hampton, both north and south of Rose, are growing. Fourth between Sunset and Rose seems to consistently have tenters now. Fourth south of Sunset has the one tenter who is messy and not compliant. Tenters use to be confined to 3rd but now 4th is getting them too. There was a tenter spotted in the 91 Freeway median which is a great fire hazard.

The good news is that the lady at the post office, of many months ago, has a place to stay thanks to Brian Ulf, Chair of SHARE. Brian was notified months ago regarding the post office lady but it was only recently that Brian mentioned he had found her a place way back when.

Other than the good and the bad, new encampments seem to come and go quickly lately. There were about six tenters on Lincoln near Washington one night, but the next day, they were gone. Carter, near Lincoln and Washington, had about four to six tenters during the week but then they were gone. Thatcher had one tenter for about three days but then he left; he was on private property.

Individual tenters pop up here and there.  One will see them at a bus stop, in a doorway, or suddenly on the sidewalk.  They seem to come and quickly go.  Occasionally, they stay and attract until it becomes an encampment.

In general, things are so much more under control than they were.  Staples is gone as is Venice Way, 7th Ave, Penmar Park, the Thai restaurant alley.  These were tragedies.  Individuals, neighborhoods worked together to stop these encampments.  The remaining encampments are so much more under control.  There is less trash for one thing.  Exceptions are 3rd and OFW,  which are not covered in the encampment update.

Ocean between North and South Venice Blvd continues to be a violation. There were four individual tenters there Friday. It is most discouraging because it seems to be almost gone and then there it is all over again. North Venice seems to be clear.

Westminster Senior Center Park hasn’t changed much since last week. One area near the entrance looked like it might have a few tenters. The two fellows in the wooden tent were still there.

Hampton Drive, south of Rose, is growing on both sides of the street. Thursday they were all over the street but Friday they looked like they were close to compliance.

Hampton Drive, north of Rose, is still the master plan for the community working with the homeless. Paul who has a business there on the west side of the street said they have a cleaning crew that comes and power washes the sidewalk and then they have a crew on alternate days that sanitizes the sidewalk. Besides that they have Dave who is kind and considerate to all homeless. He makes sure they do what they are suppose to do in the morning. Another man cleans the sidewalk of debris. Dave comes back in the late afternoon to make sure all is well and escorts women to their cars if necessary. They have recently had a rough group move in. Dave works a split shift. Paul who has a business there told the owner what was happening and the owner took care of the cleaning of the sidewalk and hired Dave for “security ” or perhaps, the term should be “ambassador.” All has worked well for homeless and the employees since the owner took the steps to clean the sidewalk and to provide security.

4th Ave, south of Sunset, has one tenter and he makes the place non compliant and makes a mess.

4th Ave, north of Sunset and south of Rose and in parallel with 3rd Ave, is growing. Most of the tenters are close to the opening for public storage and others are at the other end of the block. This part of 4th has been growing each week. They do not have to move for cleaning each week so many prefer that.

Kenny is still on Lincoln with about five other tenters at Flower. Kenny with his dog Joey was doing needle point. Shown is the one he is working on now. He showed this writer a scene that took him a year. He said there was something happening with his check and he should have been getting more. Perhaps, he will get money from four years back and then he will get a motel that will take dogs.

Naples alley has a tent and a pile of debris. Around the alley on Coeur d’Alene is a growing encampment just across from McDonalds restaurant.

Share A Meal Comes to 3rd on Thursdays

Posted by :reta On : June 14, 2019
11

Category: 3rd Avenue, Homeless, Share a Meal, Uncategorized

(14 June 2019) Share a Meal, compliments of Ravi and Jackie who live in West Los Angeles, arrives every Thursday on 3rd about 6 pm to provide a dinner snack for the homeless. They go to Ocean Front Walk after they finish on 3rd.

Bill, who lives east of Venice, said the truck spends two days in Skid Row, a day in Hollywood and one in Venice. In addition they hand out items manufacturers have given them, such as a package of socks.

Many of the people standing around are interns from UCLA working on community service credits.

Angel, the puppy, came to show all how she rides the skateboard.

Sanitation Cleans North Side of 405 Underpass; Underpass Exemplifies Los Angeles-Culver City Homeless Policy Disparity

Posted by :reta On : June 13, 2019
1

Category: 405 Freeway Underpass on Venice Blvd, 405 Underpass, Bureau of Sanitation, Culver City, Homeless, Uncategorized

(13 June 2019) Hats off to the Bureau of Sanitation and all their workers.  The Los Angeles portion (north side) of the 405 underpass at Venice Blvd was cleaned this morning by Sanitation.

The other side (south side) is Culver City and they had a statement taped to the wall stating that property and debris would be removed 18 June.  Property they said would be stored for 90 days and debris would be disposed.

For the first time a tent was spotted on the Culver City side.  Councilman Mike Bonin has proposed that other cities share in the homelessness that is engulfing Los Angeles.  This underpass is an example of the contrast.

Dan, the Sanitation supervisor, said that the Venice Blvd was not a scheduled stop as is Ocean and 3rd in Venice.  Dan allowed this writer to walk thru the encampment but he cautioned “look down for needles.”  The cleanup consists normally of removing all the debris, sanitizing (bleach spray) the soiled areas, storing items left on the sidewalks.   He said that maybe in a few weeks they will do a power wash.

One man from Clean Sweeps was there helping people move stuff to the middle divider in the road.  Young man was the only one of 30 members helping out today.  Apologies for forgetting his name.  Dan said tenters just normally start to move stuff to that area when they see us arrive.

What was noticeable was that there were fewer tenters.

South side of the underpass, Culver City side.   One tenter and a sign.

Sanitation team waits for police to rope off area before starting to clean.

The road divider was fast filling up with belongings of the tenters in preparation of the cleanup. Dan said 72 hours had been given but notices had been removed except for the outside areas. (Notices should have posted date.)

The road divider was fast filling up with belongings of the tenters in preparation of the cleanup.

The tent was dragged to the alley on the north side of Venice Blvd.

Noticed the debris at the drains. Sanitation said another team comes along and cleans the gutters. They have a truck that just sucks up the debris he said.

Don’t know how or if the fenced areas near the freeway gets cleaned.

Bonin to Propose Penalty for Empty Housing Units in LA

Posted by :reta On : June 10, 2019
3

Category: Councilman, Homeless, Housing

LOS ANGELES – In a step to confront one of the root causes of the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles, City Councilmember Mike Bonin will propose legislation Tuesday calling for the city to begin penalizing landlords who keep housing units empty while tens of thousands of Angelenos are forced to live on the streets because of the high cost of housing.

Bonin will host at a brief media availability at 9:45 am, immediately before Tuesday’s city council meeting, where he will be joined by representatives from both housing and affordability advocates, including some organizations that typically find themselves on opposing sides of local debates about development.

PATH — Results from Homeless Count

Posted by :reta On : June 9, 2019
0

Category: Homeless, PATH -- People Assisting the Homeless

Councilmembers Act to stop Cities from Pushing Homeless into Neighboring Communities

Posted by :reta On : June 7, 2019
9

Category: Councilman, Homeless

The influx in Venice is not from neighboring cities but from other states. No one is from California, much less Venice. Our City officials refuse to recognize this situation. How do you keep people from other states from coming in and using the facilities that California has provided? It is beyond weather. This is a never-ending situation unless the flow is stopped… Reta Moser

(LOS ANGELES) – Los Angeles City Councilmembers Mike Bonin and Joe Buscaino took action today to stop neighboring cities from pushing people experiencing homelessness into Los Angeles neighborhoods.

In a motion submitted today, the two councilmembers are asking the Los Angeles City Attorney to report to the council on what legal steps Los Angeles can take to compel other municipalities in the region to comply with court rulings regarding the enforcement of anti-camping laws. The enforcement of unconstitutional laws by neighboring cities is commonly used to push people experiencing homelessness out of a town and across the border into Los Angeles.

“It is maddening to hear reports from unhoused neighbors about how they are forbidden by police in neighboring cities from sleeping on sidewalks there and are directed to Los Angeles sidewalks,” said Bonin. “This is unfair and unjust and results in neighbors in LA being asked to bear the burden of solving homelessness for the entire region. Homelessness is not a problem that can be solved by pushing people into another neighborhood. We need to be on the same page as our neighbors and working collaboratively and collectively toward sustainable solutions to this urgent crisis.”

Venice is No.1 Provider Per Capita of Low Income, Supportive Housing in WLA; No. 8 in All of Los Angeles Community Plan Areas

Posted by :reta On : May 27, 2019
3

Category: Homeless, Rose Ave Project, Thatcher Maintenance Yard, Uncategorized

The Venice community Plan Area (CPA) is the No.1 provider per capita of low income and supportive housing units on the west side of Los Angeles as defined by the borders of the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission, according to Planning Urbanism, a research organization paid for by Frank Murphy, builder in Venice.

Furthermore, the Venice Community Plan Area (CPA) is the 8th largest provider per capita of low income and supportive housing units out of all 37 CPA in the City of Los Angeles

Within the West Los Angeles community Plan Areas

1) Venice provides 2.5 times the amount of the No.2 provider Palms – Mar Vista.
2) Venice provides 25 times the amount of the least provider Brentwood – Pacific Palisades.
3) Bel Air – Beverly Crest provides 0 units; therefore, they cannot be considered as a provider.

Santa Monica and Culver City are separate Cities but West Los Angeles neighbors.

!) Venice provides 5 times the number of units as does Culver City.
2) Venice provides 50 percent more units than Santa Monica

These figures do not consider the units planned for Venice:

98 units — the Thatcher Yard
140 units — Venice Median
34 units — 720 Rose project
46 units — the Lincoln project
154 Beds of Bridge Housing

“By any measure with which you would equate parity on the west side of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, Venice is the most densely populated with low income and supportive housing units,” said Murphy.

The spread sheet is the ranking of affordable units per 100 residents of all Community Plan Area’s in the City of LA. These numbers reflect the current and near past, so stated because categories are fluid such as HUD and subsidized housing terming out, vouchers moving around and etc.

This next spread sheet shows the source for the figures.

Naples Alley — What a Saga!

Posted by :reta On : May 19, 2019
0

Category: Encampment, Homeless, Uncategorized

The alley behind Naples and Lincoln was a saga of itself last week. Update was asked by a neighborhood resident to add the Naples alley to the Encampment Update. The alley deserved a story of its own, at least for now.

Drove over saw two encampments with a lot of bikes in between. People were still waking up. The alley was half passable. Next day the neighborhood resident sent photos of what he said was a drug deal and a satchel full of syringes. This was sent to SLO Javier Ramirez Thursday morning with other photos.

Friday the tenters were gone. Only their debris lingered in the alley and it was considerable.

Emily
A gal was sitting in the alley away from the debris. I asked her if the people were gone and she said she didn’t know. She said she had nothing to do with them.

The gal was upset. We talked she said her boyfriend had left her for her best friend and she was heartbroken. We talked for a while. I introduced myself and she gave me her name. Her name was Emily.

That opened a whole new conversation. I told her I lost my niece to drugs last month and her name was Emily. I told her that at this point there is DNA and a toxicology report to determine if my Emily was injected, whether it was manslaughter, a bad dose, or just a drug over dose. My Emily had been clean for three years. She had reported someone where she worked about dealing in drugs. So! She quit that job and was preparing to do the Appalachian Trail.

Drug addicts quit and go back and repeat this scenario multiple times I have been told many times lately.

Emily and I talked about the dark side of life she was leading and asked why she didn’t go home to Oregon. Her mother had just lost a husband and was wrapped up in that she said. Well, wouldn’t that be a good time to be with her. No was the answer.

She had been on meth and was clean for one month. She said it takes a while to get your head cleared from meth. She had been to college and getting a job should not have been a problem. She said she had had a few jobs here. She said as soon as the meth was cleared from her head, she would make a decision. This boyfriend really had a hold on her.

She was a dear, sweet girl, hung up on a guy, who had gotten into drugs and had gotten clean for a month, which is a start. What next for this young lady?

Darrell
Friday afternoon went back to see if the campers had returned. The alley was cleaned and a new camper was there. It was my friend Darrell and don’t know his last name and am not sure am spelling his first properly.

Darrell is a tall, black man who collect bottles and cans in the area over the weekend to supplement his income. He says he makes a couple hundred each weekend. He stays in the alley.

He is the one who cleaned the alley. He collects bottles and cans but never leaves the area messy.

Darrell says he stays in the Naples alley each week. When asked how he got rid of the others, he said “I told them I had to clean the alley.” And they left. Neighbors on Naples love him. One can see why. Darryl said the alley was filled with needles (probably the needles that weren’t in the satchel).The lady who has the van comes by to pick his weekend collection.

This writer has known Darrell for years. He is a clean, happy, considerate, bottle-can collector who does not leave a mess and always has a good word to say. Apologies … photo is of a black man hidden in the dark tree and his shirt is grey next to a grey fence.

Are Dollars Spent on Encampment Cleanups Wasted, NBC Asks; Venice Update Asks What Price an Epidemic

Posted by :reta On : May 14, 2019
4

Category: 3rd Avenue, Homeless, Uncategorized

NBC has done an article with a video featuring the 405 underpass on Venice Blvd and asking the question: “Are the Millions of Tax Dollars Spent on Encampment Cleanups Wasted?”  The story did not consider the alternative of not cleaning them and the possibility of a large scale city-wide, county-wide disease epidemic.  See article.

Residents near the 405 say the homeless enter their neighborhoods defecate and litter them during cleanups.  Sounds familiar from Venice’s 3rd Ave residents.  They do this whether it is cleanup day or not.

Yes, they do but not to the same extent as they have done in their own area.  One resident said: “Our streets are worse after these clean ups. If you come back the day afterwards, after a major cleaning, it looks the same or worse.”   Yes, after they repopulate their area, it looks the same and that may be one day afterward.   Areas in Venice are done once a week.  Remember these people are on drugs and alcohol and don’t have the discipline to get off them, much less cleanup after themselves.

Of course this costs money, as does having the police there, and as does having Department of Transportation post, signs write tickets.  Most of the people on drugs would not go into housing if it were offered, so they are not going to cooperate.  If one could get these people to go home to their families to take care of them, it would be a buck saver. Obviously, their families don’t want them either.  So the alternative is an epidemic.

Residents  don’t question the fact that the place is a disaster for disease and  having people come into your neighborhood only spreads a possible disease.

Becky Dennison of Venice Community Housing was quoted as saying that people needed porta potties.

Venice has 3rd Ave which is or was comparable to 405 on Venice Blvd..  Two porta potties were placed on private property under a shade tree for the convenience of the homeless on third before Christmas 2016.  By St. Patrick’s Day the next year, less than three months later, they were removed and an 8-foot fence was installed. Do not put clothes down the hole was the only rule.

They were later removed by the private property owner.  Obviously, the rules were not abided by the people on 3rd.  See articles following.  First one shows them in place; last paragraph of other story tells that they have been removed and an 8-foot fence installed.

https://veniceupdate.com/2016/12/23/porta-potties-in-private-parking-lot-on-3rd-ave/

https://veniceupdate.com/2017/03/17/3rd-avenue-last-thursday/   

Union Mission, when this writer took the tour, said that the City had installed a self-cleaning toilet across the street in the park in Skid Row.  The toilet cost $250K.  It was closed because people shot up in it, had sex in it, and locked the door and slept in it.

Porta potties have been installed a few blocks away from 3rd Ave at the beach and they are open all night and removed early each morning.  These porta potties have a security guard on duty all night to make sure the toilets are operated properly.

The article states:

Becky Dennison and infectious disease doctor Jeffrey Klausner of UCLA have visited the 405 Freeway encampment. They said conditions there are a breeding ground for disease and taxpayer dollars could be better spent to place portable toilets at every large homeless encampment.

Portable toilets, without a security guard, will not solve this problem.  It hasn’t worked in the past.They need a security guard.

Ask Dr. Drew, who has broadcast frequently, that LA is due for an epidemic if it continues at this rate.  Trash is what attracts the rats and spreads the disease.

Third Avenue has trash cans up and down the street, yet the trash is rampant and the trash cans are not rat proof.