February 12,
2016
The
Honorable Senator Carol Liu
California State Senate
State
Capitol, Room 5097
Sacramento, CA
95814
RE: SB 876 (Liu) Right to Rest Bill/Enforcement
of Local Ordinances/ Notice of OPPOSITION
Dear Senator
Liu:
I am writing
on behalf of our organization to indicate our strong opposition to Senate Bill
876.
Venice Stakeholders Association represents
residents concerned about public safety and quality of life in our town. Venice is the
reluctant host to roughly 1,000 transients who permanently camp right next to
our residences in several locations in Venice. With them come extreme and dangerous
conditions including trespass, burglary, assaults, home invasions, car
break-ins, drug dealing, loud late night noise, harassment, and inebriation,
defecation and urination on both public and private property.
Your measure
would exacerbate the current “Lord of the Flies” conditions we face by further
tying the hands of local authorities, while not helping one homeless person get
off of the street.
As I am sure
you have noted, the City and County
of Los Angeles are poised
to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to programs and housing to address
the homeless crisis. They may well be
joined by the State in this effort with a billion or two in bond funds to
construct housing for the homeless.
Removing the
few remaining enforcement tools available to local police to protect residents
from the deleterious effects of transient encampments will have the opposite effect
of that which you intend; there will be little incentive or reason for
transients to leave their encampments, friends and drugs to accept housing and
services. We know this because outreach staff from
reputable homeless-serving agencies have repeatedly offered shelter beds, shared
housing, and/or transportation to welcoming and safe family members out-of-state
only to be rebuffed by those camping on our sidewalks and parks. Even during the recent torrential rains there
were many empty beds in local shelters.
I invite you
to visit Venice
and talk to residents and homeless serving organizations. We believe you would
conclude that expanding further the rights of the homeless to occupy public
space will only compound the problem.
Please find
attached my op-ed article from the Los Angeles Times opposing your earlier
version of the Right to Rest bill, SB 608, which cites just a few of the
egregious crimes which have been committed by transients in our community. At www.venicestakeholdersassociation.org you can see the
numerous assaults and home invasions perpetrated on Venice
residents since deranged transient
Nathan Campbell, living in his car in Venice,
mowed down 17 pedestrians on the Venice Boardwalk with his car and killed a
young Italian woman in a rage over being ripped off in a drug deal gone bad.
Sincerely,
Mark Ryavec
President
Enclosure: When
the homeless problem is next door, Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2015
