Thanks to all who came out to speak or leave a comment card in support of the motion to let the City finish its approval process before the developers push through their significantly changed plans at Coastal Commission on December 11th. The motion easily passed through the VNC.
It was great to hear the thoughtful comments of those who have been questioning this project all these years. We’re also grateful to our Councilwoman, Traci Park, for taking the time to attend the meeting and listen to our concerns. The motion now will be shared with the Mayor, Council President, and City Attorney’s office, whom we hope will have the good sense to take this project to the Transportation Commission and City Council as promised, before it is heard at Coastal Commission.
While our Councilwoman attended the meeting, one person was noticeably missing. Becky Dennison, the executive director of Venice Community Housing. It was confirmed by a VNC board member that she knew of the meeting and proposed motion, yet she chose not to attend- we assume because her lawyer has assured her the project is going to Coastal in December, no matter what.
The sad truth: Venice Community Housing Corp doesn’t give a shit about Venice. Becky isn’t interested in sharing the significantly revised plans with the impacted community or learning what we have to say. This attitude speaks volumes on the developers’ lack of respect for the community, even after being gifted the largest project ever to be built in Venice.
Not to be forgotten, in the initial limited community outreach for the project, Becky thought it appropriate to call anyone who questioned the project a “segregationist”. Imagine accusing the very people you’re hired to engage with and seek support from of being racists (in our liberal, diverse, accepting, beach community)… not a great way to win friends and influence people.
True story- Becky told Curbed Magazine in a 7/9/21 article titled “Even a Starchitect’s Homeless Housing Project Won’t Sway Venice Beach NIMBYS”:
“… don’t call them NIMBYs — it’s too nice, she says. “These are segregationists.”
See link- (Warning, the article is full of lies- the Bridge Housing lawsuit was not ours, nor did we plant pipe bombs at the Bridge Housing site to deter the project, another lie spread by our then Councilman, Mike Bonin):
https://www.curbed.com/2021/07/venice-homelessness-los-angeles-mike-bonin.html
Another not-so-fun VCH fact: There will be no security for the Venice Dell Project. Becky was questioned on the lack of security in the budget by the outside consultant for the reuse analysis and loan reports (commissioned by the City but never shared with City Council or the public, as is required).
Here’s an excerpt from the consultant’s 1/07/22 questions- Becky’s response in red:
This “well trained personnel” was just reduced to 3 staff members who will handle “the security” for the entire development, managing 68 units of Permanent Supportive Housing along with the needs of 49 affordable units, to assure the “de-escalation… of safety-related interventions”. What could go wrong?!
Also perplexing, VCH has a terrible track record for managing and maintaining their existing projects and yet our City rewards their bad behavior with a project that is by far their largest yet.
We’re still hopeful we’ll have an opportunity to take this to the City Transportation Commission before it goes to the Coastal Commission, now scheduled for December 11th.
The most important thing now is to stay engaged! Please look out for our emails and have all your friends sign up at safecoastaldevelopment.org to stay informed. We will need every bit of community support possible for these final hearings (“conveniently” happening over the holidays) and will share talking points as soon as we figure out what the hell we’re actually responding to, as the plans continue to change!
Let’s do our best to make sure the four Venice families living in the affordable housing currently on the site don’t receive eviction notices for Christmas!
Hang in there with us Venice- it ain’t over yet!
With Appreciation-
The Team at Safe Coastal Development