Talks on Venice Homeless Focus on Food Center
Mediated talks that for months have kept a lid on tensions surrounding the homeless in Venice have hit a critical juncture as discussion focuses on where to put a feeding station for hungry transients.
About 30 people representing Venice factions that are sharply divided over what to do about the homeless have been meeting since early December to air their differences in an effort to avoid all-out warfare.
The talks started at a time when Venice, believed to have one of the highest concentrations of homeless after Skid Row, was being torn apart by debate over the issue.
Closed to Media
Few details have emerged from the talks, which are closed to the news media, but sources said participants have turned to the specific--and potentially divisive--point of where to locate services for the homeless, including a feeding program.
Lauren Burton, director of the Neighborhood Justice Center that is mediating the talks, said she hoped a “comprehensive resolution” could be reached within the next five or six weeks.
“There is consensus that there is a need to offer social services (to the homeless) in Venice,” Burton said. “The difficulty is in planning where, so as to have the least negative impact possible on the community.”
Burton said participants in the mediation are exploring a number of possible locations for the feeding program, including the now-vacant site of the Bunz restaurant on Rose Avenue.
Homeless advocates for some time have supported opening a feeding station at the Bunz site.
Suit Threatened
However, the Venice-Santa Monica Neighborhood Assn. adamantly opposes the use of the Rose Avenue site for a feeding program. The group earlier threatened to file suit to stop the feeding station but agreed to put the suit on hold while the mediated talks continue.
“We are trying to see if there is another site that is more suitable,” Burton said.
The association is seeking another location because the Bunz restaurant parcel is close to residential areas and because Rose Avenue is already the site of other services for the homeless, such as the St. Joseph Center.
“Rose Avenue should not become the core” for the homeless, Jeffrey Miles, association spokesman, said.
St. Joseph workers run a feeding program outside the Venice Pavilion. But its days may be numbered because it is operating under a temporary permit that allows the pavilion to be used for homeless services only during an emergency. The “emergency” that began with winter months is expected to be declared over soon, possibly next month, city officials say.
600 Post Cards
Meanwhile, leaders of the neighborhood association have sent out about 600 post cards inviting members to a rally Sunday in Marine Park, Miles said. Participants will be called on to write letters to officials protesting the use of the Bunz site and will be asked for suggestions about alternative sites, Miles said.
Miles said that even if an acceptable site is found for the feeding program, his organization would make additional demands, such as putting a limit on the number of meals served and requiring security.
Burton said future talks will have to concentrate on what kind of services would be offered and how they would be offered.
“We’ve spent more time and energy on the ‘where,’ defusing (those) conflicts that existed,” she said.
She acknowledged that the meetings have become increasingly difficult but said the fact that the organizations involved are still sitting down together is a major accomplishment in itself.
“We have been able to engage these organizations in dialogue, to provide a safe forum for them to be heard and hear each other,” she said. “That is not to say they’ll come out of this process and abandon their organization’s position on this, but at least they will have learned something about one another with the process.”
