The Community Council sent a letter to Judge David Carter urging him to keep beach parking lots open to all people; that they should not function as homeless sites.
The Pacific Palisades Community Council has sent a letter to Judge David Carter, responding to his April 20 injunction that would require the City and County to undertake much more action to address the homeless crisis.
Specifically, the City must look for possible spaces on City property to build housing for the homeless; the City and County must conduct an audit of available homeless funds (Proposition HHH funds, MHSA funds, Measure H funds and emergency relief from the state and federal government); and the City must conduct an investigation and prepare a report on developers that are currently receiving HHH funds.
In the injunction, the Judge wrote: “Los Angeles has lost its parks, beaches, schools, sidewalks, and highway systems due to the inaction of City and County officials who have left our homeless citizens with no other place to turn.” (To read the complete story on CTN, visit: https://www.circlingthenews.com/judge-david-cart…-homeless-crisis/)
The Community Council board wrote: “We agree in particular with your Honor’s statements decrying the loss of public spaces such as beaches and parks as a result of appalling conditions that have forced homeless individuals into these spaces.”
The Council explained the community efforts that have been made in recent years through the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (PPTFH), which is funded entirely by generous donations from local residents, organizations and churches/synagogues.
“Working with LAPD beach patrol officers, including Officer Rusty Redican, and with outreach workers from The People Concern, PPTFH volunteers compassionately engage on a daily basis with homeless individuals on and near WRSB [Will Rogers State Beach], providing offers of housing and services and helping to reduce crime, unsanitary conditions and risks to public safety – most importantly the constant risk of fire due to dangerous homeless activities on the beach and in nearby bluffs and canyons, covered by wild coastal chaparal.”
The PPCC concluded: “We agree that housing and services for the homeless are urgently needed in Los Angeles. However, the proposal to use the Beach Parking Lots would have the opposite effect of what your Honor seeks to accomplish. These Lots are regularly used by countless citizens of Los Angeles and the wider region in order to access the public beaches. Turning the heavily-used Beach Parking Lots into homeless housing would render the public beaches — pivotal to citizens’ quality of life — inaccessible and unavailable.” (To read the entire letter, visit: pacpalicc.org)
The City and the County are appealing the judge’s injunction, but Carter has refused to stay the order while the appeal goes forward.