Opposition to paying for free speech on Ocean Front Walk continues
By Jim
Smith
The Venice Ocean Front Lottery
system is unfair, unneeded and probably, illegal. Most of Venice is strongly
opposed to the threat to free speech posed by the
"buy-a-permit-before-you-speak-your-piece" ordinance. When has free speech ever
required one to purchase a permit?
Yes, there have been problems on the Walk -
and, yes, there is terrorism in the world - but that doesn't justify the Patriot
Act, or the Lottery Ordinance. By a previous ordinance, the city has had the
ability to keep shoddy, mass-produced merchandise off the west side, but it
hasn't chosen to use that authority. Likewise, rowdiness at 5 AM, caused by
vendors or residents, is a police problem. The LAPD is known for its heavy
presence in Venice. Why has it stood by and let vendors duke it
out?
The majority of complaints by
residents on the Ocean Front have been about noise. Yet this ordinance doesn't
address the noise issue. Much of the excessive noise is caused by store owners
on the east side who think that sales happen in direct proportion to the volume
of the PA systems. Why has the city not addressed this
problem?
The answer to all of the above
is gentrification. The city, personified by our non-elected city councilmember
Cindy Miscikowski (our real councilmember Ruth Galanter was deported to the East
Valley by her colleagues so that Cindy could take over), and her aide Sandy
Kievman, have been working overtime to “clean up the
Boardwalk.”
Miscikowski attended
– and seemed to be listening – at a Feb. 26, 2004, Venice
Neighborhood Council Town Hall when every Venice resident who trooped up to the
microphone during an hour-long community forum on the lottery expressed their
opposition. Unfortunately, these voices went unheeded by our
representative.
The lottery ordinance
was conceived by a committee of business interests and Kievman which worked in
secret. The council office is now in the process of organizing another secret
committee to monitor the enforcement of the ordinance. Not only has free speech
been wounded, but now a group of government-sanctioned informants is to be
created.
It turns out that some of the
free speech vendors are homeless or living in campers. Many new residents in
Venice are unhappy to find so many homeless in their midst. But their solution
is not to help them with housing, jobs and services, but to make Venice
unfriendly to them. These gentrifiers have had the support of Miscikowski,
Kievman, the LAPD, the city attorney's office, and the Dept. of Neighborhood
Empowerment (DONE).
This is where the
battle over the Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council intersects real life.
The GRVNC currently is unable to operate because of the machinations of DONE's
General Manager Greg Nelson.
The GRVNC Board,
which - like Venice - is dominated by progressives, has been supportive of
social services for the homeless, opposed to big developments that don't benefit
the community, and has opposed the lottery
ordinance.
GRVNC voted twice, and
unanimously in March and September of last year, to "set aside" the ordinance in
favor of mediation that would include: "stakeholder groups on the Boardwalk,
including artists and free speech advocates on the west side, vendors and
businesses on the east side; residents in the immediate area; homeless persons
in the immediate area; and Venice residents in
general."
This proposal, which could
have eased tensions on the ocean front without tampering with free speech was
ignored by Miscikowski and city departments. It was converted into a "community
impact statement" and presented to the city council, which promptly deferred to
Miscikowski and passed the ordinance without
dissent.
A short time later, the city
lowered the boom on GRVNC. Coincidence? Perhaps.
Posted: Fri - April 1, 2005 at 05:37 PM