VENICE, Calif.—After months of trying to get city officials’ attention, residents finally gained enough support to get a violent homeless encampment cleared outside of the Abbot Kinney Memorial Library in Centennial Park this week.
Residents who lived across the street from the encampment described the conditions as unsafe and unlivable. Piles of trash were cleared by a collaboration of the Los Angeles Sanitation Department, St. Joseph’s Center, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), park rangers, and the Los Angeles Police Department. Now, the park is fenced off and closed for repairs, and a police presence will remain in the area for the rest of the week.
The residents believe their activism in recently providing toilets in the park and interviewing with local media outlets prompted officials to act.
“They were just defecating all over all the time, every day around the community, and it just got so out of hand that the smell was so bad that the mailman couldn’t even deliver the mail,” lifelong Venice resident Yolanda Gonzalez told The Epoch Times.
She added that her property had been trespassed several times by homeless people, with some stealing water from her water hose.
“If they needed water, they could have asked,” she said.
When the encampment first appeared, there were about 30 tents—but that number quickly grew to more than 60. Reports of stabbings and assaults were rampant, while a large fire broke out at one point and burned the front of the library.
Resident Nancy Merjanian told The Epoch Times she used to be homeless, so she wasn’t “mad at the homeless for being homeless.”
“I was just mad at them for not respecting the homeowners around the area,” she said.
“A lot of bad things [were] happening, [like] women getting raped, it was just terrible,” she continued. “They kept me awake, they stole some stuff off my property. It kept me awake; my bedroom window was right there, and they kept me awake most of the time.”
She said she’s happy the encampment was cleared out and is looking forward to sleeping well again.
The homeless who were in the park received hotel vouchers from outreach workers, or were relocated to Cadillac Hotel and the Venice Bridge Home. A total of 48 people were moved out of the park, while 38 accepted housing. As of June 12, 18 people remained unhoused.
“I can’t accurately describe the relief of watching Centennial Park get cleaned,” the account posted on June 9. “I didn’t realize the constant tension I had every day watching it spiral further into chaos and getting zero help. I am so thankful for the Park People that accepted help and left calmly.”
Councilmember Mike Bonin, who oversees much of the Westside in the 11th district, voted against enforcing anti-camping ordinances in his jurisdiction. Only one other councilmember in the city voted against enforcing the ordinance.
“It took a community to do this,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t think we need government to govern us anymore, because we know how to take care of our own communities. Why do we need a city hall with so much money poured into it, and they can’t do what we did right now?”
Bonin’s office and LAHSA did not respond to a request for comment by press deadline.
