SPIRIT OF VENICE

Big Bucks
The Los Angeles City Council is wrestling with a budget deficit that's more than $200 million now and expected to more than triple in the next two years. As they look at laying off workers, cutting back hours at libraries, and even selling off parks and other city assets, a good deal of loathing is being directed at the Council members themselves. It's no secret that LA Council members are among the highest-paid elected city representatives in the country. At almost $180,000, they make more than Members of Congress and many governors. Taken as a group, they employ a staff of about 320. For comparison, the White House staff is about 480. Adding to the ire are the perks and practices that critics say allow Council members to variously flaunt the rules or feather their nests.

No Parking Problems
For instance, though the council has raised parking meter fees along streets throughout the city, council members are exempt. They can park without fear of being ticketed at any metered spot and freely walk away without slipping coins (or a credit card) into the meter.

Slush Fund?
Small potatoes, maybe. But a far bigger enchilada involves so-called member "discretionary funds." Not only does each council member get a budget of $100,000 per year to replenish this fund, which can be used pretty much any way the member wishes. But it has been the city's practice to divide the proceeds from certain city revenues with individual council members. So, if a plot of city-owned land is sold in Venice, half of the proceeds go into the general fund, and half would go to the discretionary fund of the member representing Venice.

Bill Rosendahl
City Controller Wendy Greuel released an audit showing that this sharing arrangement has contributed some $25 million to council member discretionary funds over the past twelve years. The LA Times has reported that one member alone, Westside councilman Bill Rosendahl, has amassed a fund that contains more than $4 million. More

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Nearly 50 Arrested in Sweep
Recent Arrests Coupled with Outreach Efforts for First Time

The Los Angeles Police Department curfew task force at Venice beach arrested nearly 50 people Friday morning, many of whom were homeless. It marked the first time a curfew raid was also an outreach effort to help the homeless, while also attempting to curb recent spikes in crime and the number of transients camping on the beach after its midnight closing, LAPD officials told to LA Times. The curfew task force worked with teams of social workers, counselors and religious representatives in this raid.

Many of the homeless were arrested on warrants and felony violations. For the first time, the curfew task force worked with members of social services, councilors and religious representatives who informed the arrested about services, some of which included drug recovery programs.¨

"They handed out pamphlets of information on where to try [to] get shelter, gave them medical attention, gave them information to try and help them with being homeless," said Sgt. Kevin Lowe, a day watch commander for the LAPD's Pacific Division, told the LA Times. "A lot of them don't take our advice, but at least we offer it."

¨The cooperative effort between outreach and raid is an attempt to keep the transients from simply returning to the beach once they have been released. Instead, LAPD officers said they hope that the social service members, councilors and religious representatives who provided information and suggestions will be taken seriously and that the arrested won't simply continue to cycle back to the beach.

STAFF REPORT
Santa Monica Mirror
staff@smmirror.com

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FUEL - Venice Green Film Series (Part 2)

The Venice Green Film Series is a three part Sunday series on February 28th, March 21st, and April 25th. The event is sponsored by the Venice Neighborhood Council and the Electric Lodge. This series is free and open to the public.

Part two of the Venice Green Film Series will be showing is TAPPED. This event is sponsored by Surfrider and their "RISE ABOVE PLASTICS" campaign. It is also part of the "BAN THE BOTTLE" campaign in honor of WORLD WATER DAY on March 22nd.

Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? Stephanie Soechtig's debut feature is an unflinching examination of the big business of bottled water.

From the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car and I.O.U.S.A., this timely documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water.

From the plastic production to the ocean in which so many of these bottles end up, this inspiring documentary trails the path of the bottled water industry and the communities which were the unwitting chips on the table. A powerful portrait of the lives affected by the bottled water industry, this revelatory film features those caught at the intersection of big business and the public's right to water.

For more information about the series go to:
http://venicegreenfilm.blogspot.com

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Please sign our petition to

RESTORE FREE SPEECH @ VENICE BEACH

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FREE SPEECH ACTIVIST RUNS FOR VENICE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL OFFICE

Long-time Venice boardwalk free expressionist, Dave Bradt AKA "Anti-circumcision Man", has vowed to rescue the Free Speech Zone on Ocean Front Walk from the grip of illegal commercial vending. In his own words, Dave talks here about why he feels compelled to run for office in the Venice Neighborhood Council.

"As a child my parents took me to Venice Beach. I saw things I had never seen before. I had seen artists and fortune tellers before but not people debating the issues of our lives and times. Current hot button topics I had heard on the TV, some I had never heard of. I loved the debate and as time went by I knew, if I ever were taken with a cause, I knew right where I would go. Well… I did and I do. I have gone to the Free Speech Zone, on Venice Beach Ocean Front Walk, with my table and leaflets on Sundays for the last fifteen years. It has changed and stayed the same. The walk would become over crowded with commercial vending. The police would raid and then there was lots of room for the arts and us advocates again. Now, however, The City Attorney will not enforce the law that prevents people from taking unfair enrichment from public land and refuses to protect our First Amendment Rights. The walk has little to no room for the arts or advocacy and is now a one mile swap meet.

Ahh, if only Abbott Kinney were back in charge, the kids [of today] would discover a unique place." Vote for Dave Bradt.

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Medical marijuana advocates sue Los Angeles

By Tony Barboza, L.A. Times

Plaintiffs say the city's new ordinance, which hasn't yet taken effect, is too restrictive and violates California law. They seek a court injunction and restraining order to stop it from being enforced.

Medical marijuana advocates upped the ante in the legal battle over Los Angeles' pot dispensaries by suing the city Tuesday, saying the recently adopted ordinance is so restrictive it will cause even law-abiding businesses to shut down.

Americans for Safe Access, the nation's main medical marijuana advocacy nonprofit group, filed the lawsuit along with the Venice Beach Care Center and Pure Life Alternative Wellness Center, two dispensaries that have operated in Los Angeles since 2006 -- before the city's moratorium on dispensaries took effect.

The 11-page suit filed in L.A. County Superior Court says the sweeping marijuana ordinance passed by the City Council in January and signed into law by the mayor Feb. 3 "severely restricts access to medical marijuana by effectively forcing plaintiffs, as well as the vast majority of collectives in the city, to close their doors."

The law won't take effect until the council approves registration fees that dispensaries must pay. City officials are still working to determine what the fees will be.

The suit alleges that the ordinance violates state law, and the plaintiffs seek a court injunction and restraining order to stop it from being enforced. Dispensary operators object to the "onerous restrictions" of the law, such as a rule giving them only seven days after the ordinance takes effect to relocate to 1,000 feet away from schools, parks and places of worship but does not provide maps to show where they can operate.

"We want to work with the city to comply with its regulations, but such unreasonable requirements make compliance impossible," Yamileth Bolanos, the head of a group of collectives and operator of the PureLife Alternative Wellness Center, said in a statement.

An official in the city attorney's office said that he had not reviewed the lawsuit and could not comment on specifics but that its filing could be premature because the law hasn't taken effect.

"We'll be prepared to respond in the court," said William W. Carter, the city attorney's chief deputy. "Regardless of this lawsuit, the city attorney's office will continue to enforce existing local and state law. This lawsuit does not affect our long-standing and ongoing enforcement efforts." More

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DONE, the Department Of Neighborhood Empowerment, is done.

The Neighborhood Council System is in jeopardy as the City Council struggles to find ways to close the budget gap in the City of LA. The first step is dismantling DONE (see Daily News article):
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_14458944).

The second? Cutting our budget by 2/3rds. The proposal is to cut off access to our roll-over funds (last year’s unspent allocation – while varying from year to year, approximately 20 thousand dollars) AND cut our annual allocation in half, from $45,000 to $22,500. So a budget cut to the VNC from $65,000 to $22,500.

At that reduced level we won’t be able to function very well. The Newsletter would be discontinued. Community Improvement Projects curtailed. Other activities crippled.

Help us think of ways to keep the VNC solvent and keep the citywide NC movement viable and alive. We rose to the occasion last year when our budget was threatened and kept all but 10% of our funds. A concerted effort will be needed again to maintain our autonomy. The great work of our Land Use and Planning Committee alone is enough to justify the effort to keep our voice alive. Don’t lose your input to City Hall! Don’t lose the quarterly Town Halls! Don’t lose your forum to air Venice issues! Don’t lose our great committees!

The fight will be hard, but worth it. Our NC spends less than 5% on overhead, has 100% compliance with Ethics training and has done much to better our community.

Send an email with your ideas for saving the VNC to:
Vice-President@VeniceNC.org!

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