From the Letters to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times today:
Singling out Venice Beach
Re: Hep A on the beaches
Los Angeles faces two real crises: the largest homeless population in
the nation and a Hepatitis A outbreak. To deal with it, Conor
Friedersdorf calls for opening up public restrooms in one community —
Venice.
As I would have informed him had he called me instead of citing a two-year-old quote, he is missing the big picture.
Camping is banned in almost all of Los Angeles’ parks, including on
beaches. No camping should lead to no campers, thus no need for
restrooms late at night.
If the city will not honor the camping
ban in all its parks, then it should open all of them to camping and
keep the restrooms open all day and night. This would include, for
example, camping in the park next to City Hall, with 24-hour access to
ground-floor restrooms.
I doubt The Times would welcome the
return of an Occupy L.A.-style encampment across the street from its
downtown headquarters any more than the residents of Venice want a
return to the noxious behaviors that inevitably occur with opening up
the restrooms along Venice Beach at night.
Mark Ryavec, Venice
The Venice Stakeholders Association is dedicated to civic improvement. The VSA supports slow growth, protection of the limits of the Venice Local Coastal Specific Plan, neighborhood safety, better traffic circulation, increased parking for residents, neighborhood beautification projects, historic preservation and protection of coastal waters.
