Palisades-News-June-3-2015-

Palisades NewsJune 3, 2015 A forum for open discussion of community issuesPage 7EDITORIALPalisades Homeless Task Force Deserves SupportPacific Palisades residents are compassionate peopleand many donate money and volunteer time tovarious nonprofits to help those in need.But the increasing number of homeless in the Village,at the park, in local canyons and on the beach, and theaggressive nature of some of these transients, hasresidents concerned.Brian Deming, a member of the new Pacific PalisadesHomeless Task Force, told the Optimist Club at a recentbreakfast, “Everyone seems to have a story about atransient and it seems to be happening more often.”The task force was formed last October after an assault inthe Village by a transient, who was subsequently arrested.The group, along with many Palisadians, participatedfor the first time in the Greater Los Angeles HomelessCount on January 29. From that count, it is believedthat there are between 150 to 180 homeless individualsliving within the Palisades boundaries.According to the Los Angeles Almanac, an estimated82,000 people are homeless nightly in Los Angeles Countyabout half of them African American. Some 14-18 percentare not U.S. citizens, and as many as 20 percent are veterans.A quarter of all the homeless are mentally ill and, surprisingly,16-20 percent of the homeless adults are employed.The Los Angeles Times reported in April that the City spendsmore than $100 million a year coping with homelessness.Deming, a film and television location manager,Video Available:‘Stay Safe on PCH’As a fellow Angeleno, you’re probably aware of thedouble-edged sword when driving on Pacific CoastHighway (PCH). On the one hand, there are the incredibleviews of the Pacific Ocean, and on the other,speeding commuters, inattentive pedestrians, frustratedresidents and growing packs of bicyclists.In 2013 there were 585 collisions between the McClureTunnel and the Ventura county line. In an effort toencourage safe behavior on PCH, the PCH Partners hasproduced a Public Safety Announcement video, entitled“Stay Safe on PCH.” Please post this video to your variousmedia channels and let us know if you have any questions.The video is available on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=eOIXIaEUXtM. We hope you enjoy the video,and please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questionsabout our efforts to increase safety on PCH.Drive safe,Hayley BrownSwell Communications Inc.hayley@swellco.usChange Alphabet StreetsTo Bishop StreetsI am thinking about undertaking a Pacific Palisadescivic project to place a proper historic name on the“Alphabet Streets.” Most longtime residents are probablyaware that the streets in that neighborhood are namedinitially got involved with the task force, chaired byMaryam Zar, because of the people living in a vacantspace—the former Bernheimer Gardens on SunsetBoulevard, near Marquez Place.“I thought there were seven people living there butthere were actually 14,” Deming said. “When the policeshowed up they [the police] couldn’t do anything.” Henoted the L.A. Fire Department eventually cleared thearea, based on enforcing the fire prevention code.A 2006 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision statedthat the enforcement of Los Angeles City Code 41.18 (d),which allowed police to arrest people for sleeping on thestreet when there are no available shelter beds, was illegal.“The Eighth Amendment prohibits the City frompunishing involuntary sitting, lying, or sleeping onpublic sidewalks that is an unavoidable consequence ofbeing human and homeless without shelter in the Cityof Los Angeles,” Judge Wardlaw wrote.In April this year, Mike Bonin introduced a motionasking City officials to explore whether the constitutionalmandate could be better met by providing alternativesto sleeping on the sidewalk—such as shared housing,bridge housing and transitional shelters.“As a result of the Jones [2006] settlement, we spendtime, energy and money accommodating a right to sleepon the sidewalk,” Bonin said. “That does a disservice topeople who are homeless, and it does a disservice to ourLETTERS TO THE EDITORafter Methodist bishops (e.g. Albright, Galloway, Hartzell)and other religious leaders.I’ve always felt that the term “The Alphabets” is sort ofderogatory or at least a designation that isn’t consistentwith the image of the Palisades. PLUS—it is dismissiveof the Town’s Methodist founders.There is no legal grounding for the name, it is only aninformal assignment, so changing it is only a matter ofputting a campaign together and making it happen.The proper name for the neighborhood should be the“Bishop Streets.”Some time ago a local real estate office managerrequired that his agents refer to the “Alphabets” as“Village North.” This received positive feedback fromagents and clients alike. However, the manager, EdNash, who lived in Rustic Canyon, relocated to NewYork and his campaign died with him.I do not have a dog in this hunt. My intent is not tocampaign for Methodism but to lift up the image ofthis neighborhood. History counts and to dismiss ourroots means we have lost touch with the past.Lynn BorlandBeach Tent ‘Campers’Present Problem to ResidentsLast night [May 20] at around 10:30 p.m. I called thepolice non-emergency number and was transferred tothe West L.A. Watch Commander I told the operator thatI had been accosted and threatened by very aggressivehomeless people on the beach when I was walking myneighborhoods. We need to spend our time, energy andmoney accommodating the right to sleep in housing.”The Palisades Homeless Task Force formed a BestPractices Committee to see what other communitieswere doing, specifically focusing on efforts in SantaMonica and Venice. The committee decided that thegroup getting the best results was the Ocean ParkCommunity Council (OPCC) in Santa Monica.“There has been a shift from just feeding the homelessto finding permanent housing,” said Doug McCormick,the head of that investigating committee. “We need toget them into a house and then we can bring support tothem. As a community we need to embrace a long-termapproach rather than a quick fix.”We agree with the Homeless Task Force, which believesthat permanent housing is ultimately the best directionto go, but in order to work towards that goal by havingOPCC social workers meet with Palisades transients, thecost will be $125,000 for two social workers to work withthe homeless five days a week for a year. This will enableOPCC to identify the 20 or so most vulnerable transientsand work towards getting them into housing. The strategyis that once a few homeless people successfully transitionto housing, the resistance among others will decrease.The Task Force will meet at the Palisades Librarycommunity room on Wednesday, June 10, from 5:30 to7:30 p.m. All are welcome. Email pacpalihtf@gmail.com.dog on the bike lane between Lifeguard Station 18 andthe jetty where the big lifeguard station is [along WillRogers State Beach].The Watch Commander, who said his name wasCasey, told me that I should contact Michael Moore, andasked if I knew who he is [our senior lead officer]. I saidyes. He also said that I should contact the Councilman’soffice about this problem.I was astounded and asked if they really couldn’t dosomething! He indicated that there wasn’t much theycould do and I asked him to at least send a car there todrive on the bike path and shine some lights on the tentsout on the beach to at least let these aggressive peopleknow they are there. He said he could do that, but hementioned again that I needed to contact Moore andCouncilman Bonin. I reminded him that it is illegal forthese people to be sleeping on the beach between 10p.m. and 6 a.m. He didn’t have anything else to say.Pretty frustrating. Makes me think that I am not safewalking my dog on the bike lane and that is not right. Ilive in Santa Monica Canyon and should have access tothe beach. It is illegal for them to be there. And by theway, if I did walk my dog out to the water’s edge oranywhere on the beach, I would get a ticket; I think it’saround $200.Judi JensenSanta Monica CanyonPalisades News welcomes all letters, which may be mailed tospascoe@palisadesnews.com. Please include a name, addressand telephone number so we may reach you. Letters do notnecessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Palisades News.