Mediation Slated to Calm Tensions in Venice on Homeless

Venice residents who are at war with one another over the homeless will meet with a mediator today in hopes of reducing tension and reaching an accord.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter and representatives from several agencies and neighborhood organizations are expected to join in the talks, which were organized by the county’s Human Relations Commission.

Lionel Martinez, the commission’s assistant executive director, said the meeting will focus on ways to handle the beach community’s sizable homeless population, an issue that has sparked considerable public debate recently.

‘People Weren’t Talking’

“It is a very intense situation down there, and everyone seems to have a different impression of what’s going on,” Martinez said. “Our investigation has showed that a lot of people simply weren’t talking to each other.”

Lauren Burton of the Neighborhood Justice Center in Santa Monica will mediate the talks. Burton had no comment on the agenda for the meeting, saying that the discussions will be confidential. But she did confirm that representatives from all of the major community groups will participate.

Among those expected to join in the talks are Rhonda Meister from the St. Joseph Center, the primary Venice group aiding the homeless; Jeffrey Miles of the Venice-Santa Monica Neighborhood Assn., a group that has protested plans for placing more services for the homeless on Rose Avenue, and Michael Dieden of the Venice Action Committee, an influential business/residents organization.

Galanter spokesman Rick Ruiz called the meeting a “good place to start.” He would not discuss the agenda, but several people close to the talks said homeless services on Rose Avenue will be a primary topic.

The wide thoroughfare near the Venice-Santa Monica boundary is already home to the St. Joseph Center, which offers an array of social services for homeless people and other impoverished residents. New plans call for placing a 30-bed homeless shelter and job-training program near 3rd Street and Rose and a feeding program for the homeless at the corner of 6th Street and Rose.

Vociferous Protests

Many residents and merchants have vociferously protested the plans, claiming that the services will draw more undesirables to the area. But social service providers, who have received Galanter’s support so far, say they are simply responding to the community’s needs.

People close to the talks said that at least one compromise could be reached. There are discussions about using a restaurant at 6th and Rose as a base for a “meals on wheels” program instead of a feeding station, to be operated by the St. Joseph Center. Meister, however, declined to comment on the report of a possible compromise.

“We are unalterably opposed to the feeding station,” said Miles, a spokesman for hundreds of angry residents and merchants.

Miles added that he hoped something positive would come out of the meetings, which could stretch over several weeks if the sides keep the lines of communication open.

Venice has one of the highest concentrations of homeless people in the county. Experts say that as many as 2,500 transients live in the small beach community.