Letters
• Oakwood Park: This is an open letter to
City Councilperson Cindy Miscikowski. - Karen
Jones
• Why I Feed the Homeless - Mary
Getlein
• MY VENETIAN DREAMS... - C. V.
Beck
MY VENETIAN
DREAMS...
I would like to see at
Lincoln Center: truly affordable living spaces, especially for our seniors and
disabled I would like to see an urgent care center, or our own emergency room,
maybe a small hospital and an assisted living facility, a post office annex and
a library annex, a good book store. I would like to see the parking up a ramp to
a mezzanine level, with natural daylight, rather than the below ground chambers
of horror that is subterranean parking. I would like the grocery store to
be at ground level, where it should be, so seniors and disabled don't have
to schlep shopping carts in
elevators.
I would like the small
business owners adjacent to be given the opportunity to have first choice of
locations at an amount affordable to
them.
I'd like to see an open plaza
with trees, grass flowers and places to sit, a water fountain for drinking, some
kiosks for easier, more open communication and public
restrooms.
I would like Lincoln Center
to blend in more with Lincoln Place, design-wise, maybe a mix of Venetian and
50's thru Now style.
Finally, I would
like 25 percent of the parking be reserved for Venice residents (in a kind of
park and ride concept with public transportation) and that these monies go to
supporting social programs and truly affordable housing in
Venice.
C. V.
Beck
------------
Why
I Feed the Homeless
1. They are
somebody’s child, gods
children.
2. They are hungry, mentally
ill, often without a clue and need
help.
3. I used to be homeless and know
what that means! While you are in the middle of a nervous breakdown,
you’re harassed by all sides. You’re harassed by the police, by the
tourists, and by other homeless people. It’s very scary living on the
streets, especially if you’re a
woman.
4. Right now, the LAPD in Venice
is busy harassing the homeless. They are giving them tickets for trying to sell
their wares, or drunk in public, or whatever. The police give the tickets and
are followed by a Parks and Recreation guy in a truck. They grab the homeless
guy’s stuff and throw it in the truck and drive away. Now the homeless guy
doesn’t have a change of clothes or a sleeping bag. What does this
accomplish? People are not cockroaches and shouldn’t be treated as such.
Not to bring religion into this, but Jesus said, “how you treat the lowest
among you is how you shall be
judged.”
5. A lot of homeless are
Viet-nam vets who are still in the grip of the disease called alcoholism. They
are trying to drown their guilt, pain and bad memories with alcohol.
6. When I was homeless, in Venice, 20
years ago, the only way I got off the streets was a family member came out here
and rented an apartment and let me move in with him. I was too far gone to do
any of that myself. Next time you make fun of a homeless person, think about
what it would be like to have voices chanting in your head to kill yourself.
Does that sound like fun to you? Or waking up every morning retching you guts up
because you are still in the grip of alcoholism or drug addiction? Still sound
like fun?
7. Alot of homeless are young
kids who either ran away or were thrown out of their homes, with histories of
physical, verbal, or sexual abuse by parents or relatives. They are kids, and
the only way for them to make money is to beg in the streets or rent their
bodies out by the hour. Still sound like
fun?
8. Finally, I feed the homeless
because it makes me feel good. Last night me and my friends showed up at sunset
at the Rose Ave. parking lot with BBQ chicken, stew, chicken soup, rice and
beans, lentils and curry, roasted potatoes, salad and cole slaw and three cakes:
chocolate, white, and carrot cake. Everyone was surprised and grateful. One of
the guys came up to thank me. Joy called us “Mary’s Midnight
Café” because we were all sitting around the tables eating together.
One guy said it felt really good have something good happen to him after all the
meanness coming from the LAPD. Hey, it’ just some Venetians helping some
other Venetians. It makes me feel better to take on a small action, to present a
meal of pretty good tasting food and treat people with love, kindness and
respect. I feel better to take one small action, than to turn my back on my
brother’s and sisters and walk away. When I look into the face of a
homeless person, I see myself. I love Venice Beach – its’ my home
since 1971 and I intend to stay! One way or another…. ONE-LOVE, FREE
VENICE!
Mary
Getlein
--------
Oakwood
Park: This is an open letter to City Councilperson Cindy
Miscikowski.
As a ten-year resident
of Venice living very close to Oakwood Park I was appalled to read the article
in the September issue of the Beachhead about the Department of Recreation and
Parks vote, and your decision, to tear out the trees at the north end of the
park and put in tennis courts. I heard nothing about community meetings to
discuss the project, and would certainly have attended to oppose it. The fact
that more than double the number of people who want to remove the trees want
them to stay should tell you something about how much we treasure them and the
gracious, welcoming shelter they provide on these sometimes mean
streets.
While the area around the park
has been troubled, the renovation of the recreation center and the increase of
activities for kids have changed the tone. In addition, Venice has few green
areas where people can gather, relax and relate to each other. I have driven by
the park nearly every day since I moved here, and it’s a joy to pull out
of bumper-to-bumper traffic on Lincoln Blvd. and cruise past the trees, which
are bearing beautiful pink blooms right now. Tennis courts, which we already
have, are cold, sterile and harsh. The removal of the trees will have an
incalculable emotional impact on Venice residents. Please listen to the will of
the majority and allow the trees to stay. At the very least, call a meeting that
is well-publicized at which those who oppose this project can voice their
concerns.
-Karen Jones
Posted: Fri - October 1, 2004 at 03:08 PM