I just sent this to all three people listed above, as well as to Bill Rosendahl, in case it's helpful to anyone:

I am both a Venice resident and business owner. I am very much opposed to the idea of installing the Zipline anywhere along the Venice Boardwalk and beach area, for the following reasons:

• We already have so much traffic to Venice and to the Venice Boardwalk, and the police and local government are already overwhelmed by providing services to the area. There is violence and filth and vandalism as it is. To add another carnival feature to an already overtaxed pleasure area, given the problems managing the existing millions of people who go to Venice beach, is, to me, an exercise in objective foolishness.
• It is not clear who will be benefiting. The residents of Venice are already beleaguered with parking and crowding issues, not to mention the issues of transient homelessness that plague the Venice Boardwalk (but not Santa Monica or any other local coastal community). The actual residents of Venice do not seem to be considered when it comes to managing the recreations that abut our home neighborhoods. We are overwhelmed by the Venice Boardwalk activity as it is. Do residents' voices have any standing? So far it has seemed not.
• I personally think it will be an eyesore, as do many of my neighbors. We are so fortunate to have the waterfront that we have, and so much effort has been put into preserving it. Windward Ave. is the gateway to Venice Beach. To block that gateway with a big behemoth of machinery also seems an exercise in folly.
• I am concerned that the Zipline will open the door for other such constructions that will further erode the natural beauty of the coastline as well as bring additional troublesome traffic to the Boardwalk.

Again, I ask the question—who benefits from this? It's not residents, and it's not necessarily visitors whose view will be blocked and whose visits will be even more crowded and potentially dangerous.

Please reject this proposal. We beg of you.

I've only heard back from Catalina Hernandez, who provided this overly complex and frustrating set of instructions, that may or may not lead to our comments being put in the public record:

Please contact the Board of Public Works directly to verify the procedure for submittal of comments for the hearing. You can call Teri Schmidt,  Assistant Executive Officer, at ( 213) 978-0256. I will provide their fax number, but it would be best to call their office first. Please cc me on any other comments you submit. The following is the reference information you will need:

Board Report No. 07-2012-0119
Consideration of an Appeal of City Engineer's Approval of Coastal Development Permit (CDP) 12-03 for the Venice Beach Zip Line Project
Date of hearing: July 27, 2012

FAX (213) 978-0278

Does anybody know, without my having to call a city office and be on hold forever, how to submit comments for the hearing?

Thanks, CallaLilly101, but I didn't receive acknowledgment from any of them.

I faxed to the number that Catalina Hernandez gave me, and also cc'd her, but received no response on that front, either.

It seems to me there should be a simple email address for any such action to have one's comments included. But of course it's likely that it's either so overcomplicated or so disorganized that it will make it tough for people to get their comments in, let alone know if their comments made it to the desired destination.

"That's why the goal was to open in summer, where you're guaranteed to be successful," Green said. "I don't know if we should open up in the fall and hang out in the fog."

Has nobody explained the concept of June Gloom to Mr. Green?  His lack of understanding of the local weather patterns potentially stems from the same source as his obliviousness as to why locals may not have quickly embraced this idea – he's not from here.  While I'm sure this concept would be quickly embraced in Vegas or Orlando, it strikes me as antithetical to Venice.  While I cannot even begin to describe any cohesive set of beliefs that are embraced universally within Venice, I could fairly confidently say when I first heard about this idea that this was going to be about as well received as an undocumented, gay muslim at a tea party rally.  It'll be interesting to see what the coastal commission does with this one.