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LA City Councilman Mike Bonin (Photo: 11thdistrict.com)

LA City Council Proposal Would House Homeless By Beaches Across City

‘We won’t forget this, especially during the next election’

By Evan Symon, April 6, 2021 2:55 pm

A Los Angeles City Council motion that would temporarily house homeless people on beaches across Los Angeles was proposed on Monday by City Councilor Mike Bonin.

Venice Beach homeless. (Photo: Venice resident Facebook)

According to the proposed action, temporary tiny home and camping sites would be established at Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades, Dockweiler Beach in Playa Del Rey, and Fisherman’s Village in Marina del Rey. A temporary RV site would also be set up at Dockweiler Beach. All temporary homeless camps would be set up in county-owned parking lots next to the beaches themselves. The beaches themselves will not close for the duration of the camps being nearby.

Bonin wrote the proposal due to the homeless crisis in Los Angeles and to address the lack of safe places for homeless people to go to on the Westside.

“Addressing our homelessness crisis requires a wide range of solutions, applied urgently and simultaneously, targeting different populations and focusing a variety of resources, across the city of Los Angeles,” said Bonin in his petition. “If the motion is approved by the City Council, people who are homeless because of drugs and mental illness will have the legal right to live in the parking lot at our public beach in Pacific Palisades.”

Bonin followed up on Monday with a string of tweets, further outlining his plan.

“People are living and dying on our streets,” tweeted Bonin on Monday. “All over the city, people are demanding urgent action. That means we need a broad menu of solutions — projects, programs, policies — and we need to put them in place all over the city, including the Westside.”

“We have approved supportive housing in Venice, Del Rey, West LA, Westchester, and Brentwood. We have more supportive housing proposed in Mar Vista and Venice. We have opened bridge housing in Venice and Brentwood, piloted safe parking in West LA and Westchester. We have purchased hotels in Venice and near LAX, and are looking to purchase or lease more motels and apartment buildings, and fund shared housing. But with homelessness rising nationwide, statewide and locally, we need to do a helluva lot more.”

“And we need to do it fast, so that people aren’t living and dying in encampments on our sidewalks. Urgent action means we need to house everyone as quickly as we can, and find safe places for them in the meantime — off our sidewalks, with services, sanitation and security.”
“And this is still not nearly enough. We need more housing, more programs, more services. And we need them everywhere we can.”

“None of the locations we’ve identified are ideal, and I’m always open to other suggestions. But we’ve looked long and hard. There or no ideal places on the Westside, but that doesn’t reduce the need or urgency to act.”

https://twitter.com/mikebonin/status/1379185571696807937

Growing opposition against Bonin’s plan

While there was some initial support for Bonin’s motion on Monday and Tuesday, particularly among homeless advocates who have stressed the need for more safe places for them to stay on the Westside, many others vehemently opposed the move, noting the dangers that housing the homeless in this manner could bring, including to beachgoers, residents, and drivers on the nearby Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).

“At this particular time when our economy needs it the most, this is an area that is of tremendous value. So this motion causes us a lot of concern for the safety of not only the homeless that are here and could be affected by this high traffic along PCH, along with the safety of the community of LA who comes to enjoy this beach,” said Jessica Rogers of the Pacific Palisades Residents Association. She added that she doesn’t have confidence in the plan due to how a confluence of homeless people led them to occupying most of the Venice Beach Boardwalk.

Others agreed among similar lines.

“The beaches are for everyone, not just for one group of people,” explained Andrew Lin, an apartment complex owner nearby one of the proposed sites. “You just allow one group of people there, a group who is more inclined to use drugs, panhandle, and generally cause a disturbance, then things decline fast. Also, there’s something a little disturbing about confining a group of similar people to a cordoned off area like that.”

“A lot of people don’t believe this, but this isn’t about maintaining property values or not wanting to see them or the usual claptrap they try and pin on you. No, this is about safety, pure and simple, for everyone involved. Bonin’s plan here, well, it’s reckless. He obviously didn’t do his homework on this. And if this goes through, well, you’ve seen the tide that’s been turning in California recently. We won’t forget this, especially during the next election. Or by a recall. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s been tried against him.”

The motion is expected to be decided on soon by the LA City Council.

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Evan Symon
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9 thoughts on “LA City Council Proposal Would House Homeless By Beaches Across City

  1. Councilman Mike Bonin is benefiting from this somehow, or else he is a born destroyer, but he has been challenged before (an outrageous, dangerous, and nonsensical road diet) and the community won.

    Re-read Edward Ring’s piece from March of 2020 and tell me if you think Bonin’s proposal helps ANYONE:
    “While Venice Beach Residents Under Lockdown, Homeless and Encampments Grow and Thrive”
    https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/while-venice-beach-residents-under-lockdown-homeless-and-encampments-grow-and-thrive/

    1. Its the cheapest ocean front property in the state! What would happen if we all, for one weekend, pitched a tent on the sidewalks of a nice coastal town?

      1. Hey Stacy, I think you’re onto something there! Even as a form of protest. But gee, I wonder who would be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

  2. Between this moron and Gascon, we should get top dollar for our 805 real estate when we pull up stakes and flee this lost cause of a state…
    Nice vacation spot to thaw out but to live and be subject to these morons in government and the ill informed voters???

    Nope…

    1. I live in Hollywood on Bronson and we have a huge skid row encampment on overpass outside of my building. A complete and utter skid row dump site. . All around me are encampments: junkies/mentally ill/gang members/filth/rats/waste/furniture/junk/crap and our Sanitation trucks barely come by so all this disgusting/hazardous gross matter piles up all over the street and sidewalk blocking pedestrian access…Thanks to our do nothing City Council head Mitch O’Farrell..who say they can’t do anything about horrendous conditions until enough beds are avail. That will never happen as this neighborhood has food/shower and other services catering to this population. They will never leave and the stupid/moron advocates/activists will make sure they stay on the streets as they need a job!!!!!!

  3. Bonin is a former homeless drug addict gay man. He’s the Leftist trifecta. This is what the majority of voters on the Westside voted for…

  4. Yes, you too can wake up to an ocean view. Just give up everything you worked for and pitch a tent down in Venice, Malibu, whatever strikes your fancy. Who knew that it will get you a home near the beach, tax free! Let those silly homeowners who pay property taxes and mortgages pay for your stay.
    So why not just put it along the 5 in Kern county or where the train to nowhere was suppose to go?
    This so called plan is unadulterated insanity!!
    Let’s start with addressing the mental health and addiction issues. Build those facilities to truly get help to these souls!

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