OPINION

Never Mind, We’re Just Constituents

By Jack Schwartz

On Aug. 16, 2006, my neighbors and I organized a meeting at the Penmar Park Rec Center in Venice, with representatives of R&P (Parks Dept.) and our then city councilman Bill Rosendahl. The problem was that our elders on the street no longer took their daily walks through the park, for fear of the off-leash dogs that roamed. Some of them had been chased and scared by dogs, while the owners just stood there and did nothing. The government people said that there was a law requiring dogs to be leashed, and that enforcement was going to happen…soon. Councilman Rosendahl asked me to join the Park Advisory Board (PAB) and work through the system. Since that meeting, the number of daily dogs off leash in the park has increased at least four times of the number back then. The R&P park rangers said they could do nothing. Animal Services said they could do nothing. LAPD said they were too busy. Three consecutive City Council district directors came out and watched the off-leash dogs, and had signs posted on the fences that were quickly vandalized or stolen. [Debbie Dyner-Harris was often helpful, but she left in January 2018. Krista Phipps, Ariane Garcia and Tristen Marlor said they would get back to me, did nothing and never did. The current one, Noah Fleishman, ignores all emails, so I have not spoken to him]. The PAB disbanded after a few meetings. The park director, Gregory Thomas, said that when his employees went out to talk to the dog owners to ask them to leash their pets, they were threatened, and his district director said he couldn’t help, so the staff members stopped going out. Rosendahl once said to me that he couldn’t get the R&P people to do anything about anything, because some city employees just stalled until the councilman’s staff members (or the council member) were gone. I suggested that he withhold his vote on their budget until they shaped up. He said that was a good idea. I don’t raise this issue because it is of the greatest importance. It just illustrates how little we regular people can get done in this town. And it raises the question of what the role of our elected representatives and government employees should be. A few years ago, I met with Steve Embrich, the newly installed captain of LAPD’s Pacific Division. We stood there in the street near the park, with our uniformed area SLO, Adrian D. Acosta, next to a huge marked LAPD van. As we stood on the side of the street talking, a few cars raced past us above the speed limit, and they literally ignored the officers and police van, even as one of the cars was signaled by Acosta to slow down. Captain Embrich suggested we get speed bumps installed, because LAPD only had one traffic cop for Venice. In response, one of the residents of the street answered an invitation from Councilman Mike Bonin to put in an application. She never heard back. When I called the Department of Transportation, I was told that we didn’t qualify because our street was too short for cars to speed on, despite the opinion of LAPD. We never got a written denial of the bump application; my neighbor called Bonin’s office and was told the application had been lost. She sent another copy. We still have heard nothing in reply, and of course, no speed bumps. Now, the City says it no longer has the funds for speed bumps. The question remains: What are our elected representatives supposed to do about complaints from residents? About 15 years ago, I was sitting at the bar at the now-closed Waterloo & City restaurant. The fellow on the next stool was complaining about his city council rep. He had called the Councilman’s office to state that a city agency he was dealing with was not paying any attention to his inquiry. So the Councilman’s staff member gave him the name and phone number of the agency that wasn’t doing its job. My fellow drinker wondered why they would send him back to the office that he couldn’t get any help from, instead of getting involved directly. He gave up. I have lived in Venice for 35 years. I work in the housing and homelessness fields as a lawyer for nonprofit housing builders and social service providers. My community matters to me. I organized the 12 houses on my street into an email group, to try to solve problems and to let my neighbors know what services and programs are available to them. I’m not talking about big issues like crime, homelessness, gentrification and ugly minimansions, income inequality, or traffic density. We look at health and safety issues that make it

comfortable enough for people to want to live in a city like speeding cars, vehicles and e-scooters ignoring stop signs, a lack of regular street sanitation sweeping, no safe use of the park, abandoned stolen vehicles, and enforcement of zoning laws. Let me offer two examples. I am writing this on a Wednesday afternoon. In a few hours, the street and neighborhood will be invaded by a large number of people attending the weekly outdoor concert in the café in Penmar Golf Course. Because the golf course has just a few parking spaces, every possible place to put a car in the area— whether legal, illegally sticking out into the intersections, or blocking driveways—will be filled up. The area residents will get a few hours of live music, whether they want it or not. And who knows if the venue will be overcrowded with customers? Now, how did the City authorize this weekly assault on the neighborhood, without any consultation with the residents? How about this one? A few years ago numerous ugly mansions were built on Morningside Way. The behemoth at 1240 didn’t sell, so it was rented out for years to Whisper, an internet corporation. That’s a business in an area zoned for residential use only, with employees parking up the blocks around the house, 24/7. The Department of Building and Safety was unable to cite this out-of-zone use because neither the owner nor the business would voluntarily let the inspector inside. When I suggested to DBS that they get a court order to allow inspection, the response was: Yes, I guess we could. But they never did. DBS told me that the business was evicted, and left without government law enforcement. Now the place, which is on line under the name Mystic Manor, is up for sale with a list price of $5,999,999, but meanwhile, and for a year or two, it was rented out for commercial events, or as their website states: “Perfect for photo shoots, workshops, lectures, dinner parties, ceremonies or any other gathering/event you can

(Continued on Page 8)

8410 Pershing Drive Playa Del Rey, CA 90293 310.822.2011 delreydental.com

Dr. Homyak

imagine!” At least a dozen neighbors have filed complaints with the city, due to the crowds, traffic, parking problems, and trash. The city attorney’s office told me that since there wasn’t loud noise from the building, they couldn’t do anything. The city’s response? Nothing. Last month, the nonprofit Venice Community Housing Corporation had a grand opening for the residential Rose Apartments. I ran into Mike Bonin there and told him that I had been trying to get a phone conversation with him for a year and a half to discuss some neighborhood problems. He gave me his personal email and told me to use it to set up a meeting. After three emails that were not replied to, I wrote to Chad Molnar, Bonin’s chief of staff, who said that he would remind Bonin. That was a month ago. I’m still waiting. If city council members and their staff aren’t going to help city residents, then lower our damn taxes, because their salaries are not being earned.

Elite Dental and Orthodontics

www.elitedentalandorthodontics.com

8930 South Sepulveda Blvd, Suite 117, Los Angeles 90045 One block from LAX airport • FREE PARKING 310.641.8890

Dental Implants $600 OFF

NEW PATIENTS ONLY Not valid with any other offer. EXP. 9/8/22

Complimentary Dental Implant & Orthodontic Consultation

Braces or Invisalign $1200 OFF

Not valid with any other offer. EXP. 9/8/22