Chessy Peake said
I just wanted a vend free Tuesdays – half the vendors aren't there on Tuesdays anyway. It would be nice to have the park back with nice views and paths one day a week (or even a month). But it is just a dream.

You're on to something there Chessy, but I would turn your proposal inside-out.

Instead of one vendor-free day a week how about we have one day a week where vending is allowed? Much like farmers markets which take place on just one day a week the vendors could have their own market day every week and it would be restricted to one and only one day per week, like on a Saturday or a Sunday, period.

Dear John,

I don't think anyone hates you. That would imply passion. However your means of making a living does crap-up OFW. I cordially invite you to go eff yourself as well.

Venice Rob said

• John, I would like to have a business where I didn't need a business license, didn't have to pay sales tax, rent, workers comp, business insurance, and income tax. And be able to sell what ever I wanted.

SaltWater said
Dear John,

 

 

 

I don't think anyone hates you. That would imply passion. However your means of making a living does crap-up OFW. I cordially invite you to go eff yourself as well.

 

 

 

I didn't mean to create the wrong impression. I do not have a "business", and am not foolish enough to attempt to "earn a living" on the boardwalk. I'm retired, and it's a hobby – and I know of no one who is making any real money out there who is operating within the rules. Neither do I regard indulging in my hobby as a right – it's a privilege, and one I choose not to abuse.

I can see legitimate gripes from all sides of this debate – but as in most debates, I have little patience with the extremists at either end of the debate. Those who wish to sterilize and childproof Venice, and those who insist upon total anarchy are, in my mind, different variants of the same kind of people. Namely, fools.

At any rate, people who call for extreme actions in this matter, as in most, may not be considering the unintended consequences of what they wish for – and those who think the "beach scene" should be arbitrarily shut down seem to be forgetting something – these activities, until this latest plan was adopted, were NEVER legal. The vendors, performers, and crusties have been out there since the late sixties, and were not legal for most of the time they have existed – and I think it odd that these people seem to think that the cops who never enforced the law before, and won't enforce the existing rules now, are going to suddenly descend, en masse, upon the boardwalk and "clean it up" to their satisfaction if a "ban" is instituted. IF you think that will happen, I have a lovely bridge in Brooklyn, NY, you might wish to consider purchasing from me. The cops don't give a rat's about the Boardwalk, and never will – and I can't blame them too much – they have a plate that is pretty full of stuff more important than some yuppie's bruised sensibilities.

Those who advocate the continuance of further gentrification in Venice are absolutely within their rights to do so – but I would offer them the same caution I would offer anyone who is busily pursuing what they want – namely, that they take a few moments to consider the unintended consequences that might result from getting what they want. I'm an old man, I've been around, and I've seen this happen before – Sausalito, Laguna, Topanga, etc. – and I have observed that those who use their wealth to reshape communities in the mold they prefer often end up profoundly unhappy with the results. I have heard many, many rich "hipsters" say "What happened to this place? It's not cool anymore!" The answer is, Chad and Buffy, that YOU happened to it.

Of course, it isn't human nature to think that way – we all like to believe that our own desires are entirely rational, and that if we got what we wanted, the world would be a better place.

But it ain't necessarily so.

I don't know what the solutions are, and no one else seems to either – and until we can come up with something better, I respectfully submit that it might be a good idea to at least attempt a good-faith effort to make what we have right now work.  There might not be ant perfect solution out there, and I have never believed that all human problems can be fixed – but you sure as hell can't fix them by just throwing your hands up in disgust and walking away.

Again, this issue has too many Chiefs (City, State, and County) who change pecking order from time to time, all of which do not have the time or funding available to address the situation properly, combined with the same self-entitled jackasses who have been advocating chaos and anarchy over civilization to ward off what they see as gentrification (which I generally see as a progression of change), who obstruct and lobby for squalor over whatever changes might occur. When I moved here, in the late-1980s, the quality and creativity of west side vendors was at a much higher level than it is today, because they were primarily real artists, "fortune tellers," and funky locals who set up card tables and used the Boardwalk as a social network to interface with neighbors, tourists and other like minded artsy-fartsy folk who liked hanging at the beach with a purpose and a comfortable place to sit.  Musicians played acoustic or had amps the size of corn flake boxes… This all changed, and was changed by the same people who filled Venice streets with dilapidated RVs, gutters and drains with sewage and west side vendor slots with garbage and pre-manufactured crap and turned vending into a lifestyle and a political movement.

What is needed here (and always has…) is a government office to oversee the vendors as it obviously can't be done by enacting laws, as laws are both flexible because of the interpretation factor and legal action. It could be funded and subcontracted to a 501c3 nonprofit, but most in Venice would not do because chaos over civility is bad for their business and giving the job to the Neighborhood Council would be a disaster because ours has degenerated to an organization that values political stance and obstruction over service to the community.

So it stays the same and everybody who should be coming up with a solution, don't want to waste the time and effort… Sad situation that will eventually end badly as the hotels and higher-end business creep west from A-K and Rose…

The old guard has lost, but what they are leaving concerned residents with, are few mechanisms and avenues to guide and customize changes as they progress… Obstruct change and vilify positive efforts to guide change, until change overwhelms, then leave and let the big money call the shots….  sad but true…

concernedneighbor said
Easy Salty – the guy seems pretty moderate here.  Keeping Venice clean and safe is one thing – but I don't think many of us want it to turn into Laguna.  The only thing worse than a hipster with a fedora is a super douche in a beanie…

Address the issue and tell me what's wrong with my proposal: one, and only one market day a week where vending on public property is allowed. How does that turn it into Laguna Beach?