News of Venice, CA and Marina del Rey CA
Kyrina Bluerose captured this photo of the sea lion swimming in his new pool Thursday afternoon.
Sea lion got thru the locks and into the Oxford Basin Thursday. Peter Wallerstein, director of Marine Animal Rescue, was on scene in afternoon to attempt to remove the animal. However, the sea lion was not cooperative. Wallerstein (shown in photo) thought it best to wait until the animal calms down to try again.
From left to right are the various VFW dignitaries from the state and local posts. B.J. Lawrence is to the left of the wreath. Past the wreath is Judy Baca, founder and executive director of SPARC; Carlos Rogel, SPARC project manager for the Wall; Leslie Himes, friend of the muralist Stewart;Deborah Padilla, SPARC executive director; Taylor Bazley, Venice Deputy; Pete Galindo, SPARC assistant director, and George Francisco, president of the Venice Chamber of Commerce. Francisco opened the ceremonies.
“The Wall is a Living Memory,” said Carlos Rogel, Wall project manager for SPARC, at the Wall ceremonies held Wednesday in front of the POW/MIA Vietnam Memorial Wall on Pacific Ave in Venice.
“We want to restore dignity to this wall … sometimes it is the only place these names are remembered … it should be relevant not only to family members but to future generations.”
B.J. Lawrence, national junior vice commander-in-chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, several VFW members from state and local VFW Posts, a friend of the muralist joined Venice Chamber of Commerce and the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) at a special ceremony to kick-off the restoration of the POW/MIA Vietnam War Memorial Wall on Pacific Ave in Venice.
B.J. Lawrence gave the commemorative talk before officiating the laying of a wreath at the wall.
Last year Wall was graffitied
It was last year, just before Memorial Day, the wall was graffitied, and when many well-meaning people tried to remove the graffiti, they removed names. The Wall had to be restored.
SPARC stepped up
SPARC stepped up and said they would restore the mural. They since have done extensive research to make sure the names are all there and in the right places.
Judy Baca, founder of SPARC, said they would keep a “digital copy” so that it would be fixable from now on. She said she thought the wall would be moved or in jeopardy within the next five years because the property where it is located is to be developed.
“It is planned that the really big ceremony will be this coming Memorial Day when the wall is completely restored,” said Taylor Bazley, Venice deputy for Councilman Mike Bonin.
Peter Charles Stewart did the Wall in 1994
The 2073 names were painted on the black painted surface of a masonry wall on Pacific Ave in Venice in 1994 by Peter Charles Stewart who had served as a naval ordinance man during Vietnam. Leslie Himes, who was there to speak, helped Stewart collect the names from the Department of Defense.
“Peter slept in his van and had a parrot during this time,” Himes said. “We made friends with Jean and Charlie Raye, whose son’s name in on the wall. Jean was instrumental in starting the Legacy of Families here. Peter finished the wall in 1994 and died in 1996. Peter would be proud today.”
Bazley wants to anti-graffiti paint all murals
Taylor Bazley, Venice Deputy for Mike Bonin, said they were going to put a coating on the mural to prevent graffiti. Whether it is the type of coating that won’t allow paint to adhere or the type that can be washed off was not discussed. Bazley did say he was working on getting all the murals coated to prevent this.
B.J. Lawrence spoke of the desecration of monuments and how sad and disrespectful it was for those who served.
Leslie Himes talked about Peter Charles Stewart and his effort to do the wall.
Carlos Rogel, Wall project manager for SPARC, indicated it was a special project for him. He said he had people who would stop by the wall when he was there and tell him that “that name up there is a member of my family.” To Rogel it is a living memory.
Solimar Ferguson of LAHSA (Los Angeles Housing Services Authority) and Tia Drayton, registered nurse with County Department of Public Health are shown returning to St. Joseph Center after visiting homeless on 3rd Ave. They are part of the C3 team assigned to Venice.
Venice’s C3 Team is starting to move homeless into housing. After just five months in operations, they have some numbers.
C3 is a county, city, community team headquartered at St. Joseph Center to help the homeless in Venice, specifically the area from Dewey to Washington Blvd, Lincoln to Main. Their purpose is to engage, assist, and house. Head of the group is Stephen Butler, assistant vice president of programs at St. Joseph Center.
This writer met with Tia, Solimar, and Steve in December of last year. This writer wanted to observe the team in action on 3rd. Steve briefly explained the operation before departing.
Immediately, after leaving St. Joseph’s to Hampton Dr, we saw two women across the street. Tia and Solimar immediately crossed the street toward them.
Here were two well-dressed, diminutive women rolling up a tent that they had used for the night. This writer would loved to have been able to take a picture of these two because they were the “poster children” for “get rid of homelessness in Los Angels today, not tomorrow.” They expressed a seldom seen extreme of homelessness and they did it with humility and dignity. They were not the stereotype homeless that are seen on the streets or beach of Venice. They looked like semi-professionals, and without the tent, one would never have guessed they were homeless.
This writer walked with the three on 3rd as they talked with the homeless and asked them how they were. Tia re-bandaged a cut on one arm. Tia was equipped with a first-aid kit, and when asked about it being part of the equipment, she said “Oh, yah,” like it was a given for what she did. They had to return, so that day, other than the bandage, it was a meet and “what can we do for you.”
Trust, for the homeless, takes time and engagement. There is an enormous amount of paper work involved after one gains trust to get to the place when one is handed a key to his own apartment.
Stephen said “the team has a lot of different responsibilities when it comes to best serving our unhoused neighbors, which includes coordinating medical and mental health care; re-connecting to past service providers; facilitating connection to income; procuring key documents for housing; navigating the coordinated entry system; and transportation to different types of bridge and permanent housing.
“They assist is the process of getting folks connected to resources like bridge housing, substance use services, medical assessment and treatment, as well as linkage to other resources that lead to health, harm reduction, and housing.”
This writer met Stephen at a Homeless Committee meeting the other night and Stephen was happy to report that the one lady, and he knew immediately that this writer knew who he was talking about, had her own apartment now. That day neither lady wanted to give any particulars. But apparently, one did and now has her own place.
When one hears news like that, one feels both immediate happiness and relief and the thought plays often in one’s head. Cannot imagine the joy the workers must feel when they place someone.
The walk was done in December and there were no figures at the time. They started 24 October. Now they have the follwing figures for the five months in operation, ending 31 March.
People Engaged: 269 (12-month Goal: 300)
People Assisted: 111 (12-month Goal: 150)
Interim Housing Placements: 41 (12-month Goal: n/a)
Assigned to Permanent Housing: 28 (12-month Goal: n/a)
Moved into Permanent Housing: 5 (12-month Goal: 75)
“We have 28 people ‘assigned to housing,’” wrote Stephen. “This means that the person has been connected to some type of voucher or rental assistance, and has a case worker helping him navigate the housing process. The 41 people in interim housing are no longer on the streets of Venice!”
It was before the 2016 Memorial Day that taggers hit the Memorial Wall, destroying it. The act drew a crowd of Venetians and veterans from areas throughout the City. Many who came told of their time in Vietnam, tears were in the eyes of all, horns honked passing by, one man “stood watch,” and the hearts of all were saddened to see such disrespect.
(Photo courtesy of Stewart Oscars.) Latest tagging.
B.J. Lawrence, national junior vice commander-in-chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S., and several VFW members from local Posts will join the Venice Chamber of Commerce and the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) at a special ceremony on April 5, to commence the restoration project of the POW/MIA Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Venice, Calif., and speak against memorial desecration.
The restoration project’s kick-off ceremony will begin at 11:15 am at the POW/MIA Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Venice, 614 Pacific Ave. Lawrence will lay a wreath at the memorial as part of the event.
SPARC ‘s Mural Rescue Team will begin the restoration process immediately following the event, and VFW members will be on hand to provide needed support.
The Venice memorial was recently vandalized for the second time in the past year, and restoration efforts will be extensive given the over 2,273 names which appear on the memorial. Venice Chamber of Commerce led the fundraising efforts to make this restoration possible.
Met Mike at Windward Park Thursday. Sat down on park bench with him and never got a word in. But his insight on homeless was interesting. Mike is not homeless; he is doing Airbnb all over the City so he can get to know the City. Asked him if his remarks could be recorded. He showed a little restraint in front of the camera but it was still worth hearing. Noise in background is skateboarding and the wind.
Venice Community Housing (VCH) had another meeting of the community for “community input” for the Venice Median project. Next meet will be held 15 April on the site. The meet was held at the VCH office on Rose Tuesday evening and about 15 attended.
Questions Asked
People mentioned that the project, which consists of two buildings in the North and South Venice Blvd median, should be scaled down both in height and density, that the percentage of PSH (permanent supportive housing) units to affordable should be minimalized, that the Venice Canals maintenance area next to Grand Canal, was not shown, and that the final design should be more friendly, more reflective of the surrounding neighborhood. The question was asked if this project would follow and be committed to the Venice Specific Plan and Becky Dennison, director for VCH, said it would.
Dennison answered the oft asked question regarding selling the property and building somewhere else to provide more housing for those in need. She said that the VCH had a two-year commitment to come up with a plan. After that, she said it could be sold but that, she said, is up to the City.
Parking for Affordable and PSH Different
The question was asked regarding parking. Dennison said parking requirements for affordable and PSH units were less than the normal parking requirements of the Venice Specific Plan. She said that PSH units would be 1/2 parking space per unit and affordable, would be one. Based on this criteria, 68 PSH units and 68 low-income affordable-type units would require 102 parking spaces. The project is required to replace the 188 existing beach parking spaces. This totals 290. This figure does not include parking for any commercial spaces that might be added to the project. The figure of 450 had been stated before so the 290 figure gets closer to what can work.
Dennison made the statement that provisions would be made for the houses on the North Venice Blvd to enter Dell and South Venice Blvd.
Tenent Selection for 136 units Differs
Of the 136 homeless units, 68 will be permanent supportive housing (PSH); 34 will be Affordable units for low-income artists; and 34 will be for affordable low-income wage households. People wanted to know about the selection process.
The Coordinated Entry System (CES) will be used for the selection of tenants for the 68 PSH units. The CES is a question and answer summary of the person’s history and needs. Those most needy, based on CES, will be selected first. CES prospects are selected from County’s Service Planning area 5 or SPA5, which services the cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City, Malibu, Santa Monica, and the communities in Los Angeles Council District 11 of Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey, Mar Vista, West LA, Venice, etc. The Affordable unit selection will be by advertising for the available units.
Will this remove former Venice residents from street; Will this eliminate homeless from Venice streets
Residents have made it clear that they want these projects to be offered to Venetians who are homeless. This is very contentious subject with residents of Venice. There are Venetians who may be homeless somewhere. The people on the streets in Venice are not from Venice; they are transients from all over the United States. Others assume these costly projects will end homelessness in Venice as Councilman Mike Bonin stated. The CES application taken in Venice will show they are from Venice even though they may have lived in North Dakota the day before. So whether they are transients on the streets of Venice or former Venice residents, selection will still be based on CES need.
Provide Input, Not a Speech
At these meetings everyone is afforded the opportunity to be heard. It is a basic misconception by some at these meetings that those who live near, or even not near, the project and make comments are against helping the homeless.
“To ask questions, make suggestions, and ask for clarifications strengthens the project,” said Darryl DuFay.
“There is an erroneous judgment call that prevails during these discussions and this should be stopped or filtered,” said Reta Moser. “Those making long statements why they like the project or give “How I helped the homeless” testimonies, not only take time from those who sincerely want to provide input or ask questions, but they try to lay a guilt trip on those asking questions. The program says “provide input.”
East side of 3rd Ave.
The Venice Neighborhood Council Homeless Committee discussed two proposed homeless motions and talked of others in the formative phase. A documentary film of Ronald Troy Collins, a homeless Blues musician, was shown and Collins performed two songs.
Provide storage at site
One of the motions was to have a six –month pilot program with the Department of Sanitation and LA police department partnering to provide 25 sixty-gallon storage containers for the homeless. A requirement would be that the person enter the LAHSA Coordinated Entry System (CES).
The containers would be used to allow a person to store his personal possessions, such as a tent, blankets, medication, personal documents, during the day. It was assumed that the container would be close to where the person dwelled on the sidewalk at night. This is all in compliance with LAMC 56.11.
At present one cannot walk down certain streets in Venice. The intention is to make the neighborhoods cleaner and make the sidewalks walkable and provide homeless with a safe, secure place for possessions.
Provide pet care
The second motion was to provide pet care for those homeless with pets. It was recommended that the LA Animal Services Mobile Pet Center provide free services to the pets belonging to the homeless.
Ideas in the making
One was to provide cards for Venice residents with the agencies and phone numbers to call when a resident sees a homeless person in need of help. Another idea being formulated was to provide a sober living facility in Venice for those who consistently need help. Mention was made of having a homeless town hall.
Venice Art Crawl will be an event that will have not only art but photography and music 20 April, 6 to 10 pm, at The Runway in Playa Vista, 12746 Jefferson Blvd, Playa Vista 90094.
Bikes a la mass with boom boxes blasting, some drivers with costumes, and those out just to enjoy the ride and the day.
Riders on Windward at Pacific.
One had a problem.
Young entrepreneurs were out watering down the bikers.
Mac, who has his own following could have cared less about the commotion.
