News of Venice, CA and Marina del Rey CA
Rick Swinger, local activist, took these two photos of Venice Blvd under the 405 Freeway. One is the north side of Venice Blvd that is in Los Angeles and the other is the south side of Venice Blvd that is in Culver City.
North Side, Los Angeles Jurisdiction
South Side, Culver City Jurisdiction
It is a pleasure to go to most of the campsites because the rain has washed away the debris and the streets in Venice look clean. Tents are lined up and for the most part there is little debris outside to clutter up the scene. Today one could see the beginning of kicking the trash to the curb and throwing the trash out the window. That is what one day without rain will do.
Rain has gotten the campers anxious. They came to California to get away from bad weather and sun and fun at the great California beach. Rain has dampened their game plan. Hampton, north of Rose, on the west side is growing as is 7th Ave while Penmar Park is decreasing.
And by the way, it is always a pleasure to drive by Staples, Harrison, Harding, Lake and a few others to see them clean and remember what they once were.
When driving by Sunset Friday morning, I watched a lady who didn’t look like she belonged on the street but only her head was visible. She was definitely having a drug reaction. Her hair was well combed, she had earrings on, and possibly lipstick. I saw Officer Kristan Delatori looking at her so I moved on. Later in the day, Rick Swinger called to say that there was this gal who was going to take her clothes off. Rick talked her out of it and sent me a picture of her. He was trying to get police to pick her up. It was the same gal. One wonders if she was given something and her escort did not like her reaction so he dumped her off in Venice. She was definitely the poster girl for “Say No to Drugs.”
North Venice Blvd at Dell has a new encampment.
Ocean Ave between North and South Venice Blvd has a new one right next to Farmer’s Market sign. To the North of that is the guy who has been spreading out on Ocean but has now camouflaged his total encampment.
North Venice Blvd, west of Ocean, is the row of “ugly vans.” The white car and the brown van below do not belong on the road. They are inoperable in that they are not movable in the state they are and there are laws addressing this. These are the same laws of the road that protect citizens from someone who drops a trailer on a street. All vehicles must be capable of being moved. Call your local senior lead officer and tell him to get rid of that junk … probably a health hazard too.
Lady at the post office sits concealed in her chair with her stuff neatly surrounding her.
The encampment at Main seems smaller. The one gal came out and yelled. She is not nice and has two pit bulls. With an attitude like she has, she needs two pit bulls. Approach with caution.
Fourth between Sunset and Flower looks about the same. It was added last week as a place to watch.
Hampton, south of Rose, may have lost one or two tents but is still there. David Busch stays on the west side of the street awaiting his day in court for having his tent up when it should not have been. All tents can remain up when it is raining.
Hampton, north of Rose on the west side, is growing in front of the commercial. Rick Swinger has been calling St. Joseph Center and asking them to clean that side of the street. There is debris and some are using it for a bathroom. The feces is piling up. St. Joseph’s Center is suppose to keep the perimeter clean as part of their conditions of approval.
7th Ave is repopulating, not with the same people, but with new ones. Charlie came out of his tent upset, but when he found out no one wanted to fight with him, we had a wonderful conversation. He said the way to fix all this is to get rid of the liberals and enforce the laws. “Homelessness can be fixed by putting the mentals in hospitals and then make all the rest go to rehab,” he said. Charlie is from Durango, Colorado and is here only for the winter. He said on 7th the meth people live on the north end of the block and the older ones live on the south end of the block. He also told me that meth people have to be tearing up stuff and that is why you have these campsites that look like someone took the grinder to everything. One learns something every day. There was a car across the street and he said someone lived in it and “just throws his stuff out of the car.” That must be nice for the resident to have that parked in front of his house.
Penmar Park, western edge, is so much better than it was. Because of the rains some are leaving. Since Sanitation was there to clean up the debris and the alley debris, some may not feel at home and have decided to move on but there are fewer sites. The one site that had no room service left and someone cleaned up part of the site.
(All photos courtesy of Rick Swinger.)
Rick Swinger reported this electrical tap the homeless had made at Gold’s Gym parking lot on 3rd last Wednesday. Swinger reported it to the Clean Team of the BID and to Gold’s Gym. Today, two days later, he saw the above string of wires hooked into the tap. Gold’s Gym was charging all the homeless phones on 3rd. He told Gold’s Gym again, wire tap was removed, and a lock was put on the box.
Foxtrails, a Masters in the Chapel concert, will perform Friday, 22 February from 7 to 9 pm at the First Lutheran Church of Venice, 815 Venice Blvd. Concert is free. Doors open at 6:45 and there is parking on site and on the street.
Foxtrails is a group of young Los Angeles multi-instrumentalists, influenced by traditional Gospel and Soul music, with modern ambient influences with rich vocal harmonies.
Venice Kids Count is settling their suit with the City. The City will not be converting the Westminster Senior Center into a storage facility for homeless.
Spokesman for Venice Kids Count said “The agreement outlines that should the City decide to reverse their direction and move forward to convert the Senior Center, they will notify us in writing 60 days prior and we can then immediately revive our legal effort. We have agreed to essentially put our lawsuit on hold.”
Councilman Mike Bonin has announced to the group that the Senior Center will be used for recovery meetings hosted by the Venice Recovery Center. Venice Recovery Center was on Lincoln Blvd.
Spokesman for Venice Kids Count stated that the group hopes the Westminster Senior Center will be used by community organizations, such as arts groups, civic groups, hobby groups, senior groups, etc so the park will be a positive presence in Venice.
(Photo courtesy of Rick Swinger.)
(Photo courtesy of Patrick Guzman.)
A transient living on 3rd Ave tapped into an electrical box designated for Gold’s parking lot. This was discovered by Rick Swinger, resident and local activist. Both Gold’s Gym and the Clean Team from BID (Business Improvement District) were notified.
The Venice Pier electrical box was tapped into last year causing the pier to close for a short time and costing the City money to fix.
Thanks to LAPD, the two encampments, one at the edge of 91 Freeway and the other on Carter, both shown above, are gone. The tents at 7th Ave are increasing and the tents at Penmar Park west lost one tenant but the mess remained. Photos were taken Saturday after the rain so all the tents were up. LAPD will not request tents be put down during rain.
Venice Blvd, north and south, remain clear and that includes the Grand Canal area that became a large pollution hazard. Only Ocean Blvd between North and South Venice Blvd, shown below, remains.
A car and several vans are looking to establish a line of live-ins on North Venice Blvd, west of Ocean. Car looks familiar.
The lady, who was captured at the old post office in the rain and refused all services, looked to be sitting at the bus stop with her stuff neatly assembled where she had been.
The encampment next to the school on Main is still there.
The encampment on Hampton, north of Rose, is growing but it remains on the west side against the commercial. The encampment that was so messy and next to residences, was on the east side. 
The encampment on Hampton, south of Rose, seems to be the same size.
The tents at 7th have more than doubled since last week but there was no noticeable trash. Tents were just neatly lined up in clusters. People were friendly and happy to get out of their tents after the rain. It is always a new crowd.
The area west of Penmar Park lost the resident who won the gold medal for the most trash in that area. Tent was gone but most of the trash remained. Residents have been looking for the high ground. Looked like there was one more tent. The area is clean compared to what it had been. The alley is clean. This too has to be cleaned.
Perhaps a security deposit should be obtained for each person who puts up a tent.
Wednesday morning, 6 February. It appears the good stuff has been bagged, the garbage removed, and the elderly lady is underneath the blanket resting. It is unknown who helped the lady or if anyone did.
Yesterday, she stated to two St. Joseph’s workers that she did not want help. Sanitation via MYLA311 app had been requested 4 February, and 5 February, a note was sent to the applicable senior lead officer for help thru the LA Homeless Task Force. No one knows at this point who helped her or if someone did. She did not want housing or any other type help. She said she would bag everything and dispose of garbage herself.
Note there is a previous story regarding this site and the garbage. See https://veniceupdate.com/2019/02/04/encampment-turns-to-trash-use-myla311/
When dealing with the homeless, some days are harder than other days. Today was not the best. Today I saw the ruble move and talk.
A small, elderly lady sat on a chair totally camouflaged by being wrapped in part of a blue tarp and other plastic bags. Had she not moved, one would think she was a bag of trash. She was rocking back and forth while talking with members of St. Joseph’s outreach team.
I asked one of the members if they had housing for her. The St. Joseph representative said “The lady doesn’t want help.” I asked if she did want housing, could you help her and the answer was “No.”
The lady under the plastic told me that she was going to clean up her site. She was going to bag the stuff and someone would pick it up, she said.
Brian Ulf, of SHARE collaborative housing and who is on the board of directors of SHARE, was called and a message was left on his phone. An email was sent to SLO (senior lead officer) Jennifer Munther with a suggestion that the Homeless Task Force be asked for help.
Update has been listing this site as an encampment. As of Monday it was listed as an abandoned site and Sanitation was requested via MYLA311 app. Am sure the elderly lady would appreciate Sanitation coming and helping her with the garbage.
