June 24 - July 28, 2022
Encampment at Centennial Park Cleared 41 of 66 residents moved to interim housing B Y D OLORES Q UINTANA City officials have cleared a homeless encampment at Centennial Park in Venice. The Santa Monica Daily Press estimated that there were up to 60 tents on the site, located on the Venice Boulevard median near the Abbot Kinney Memorial Library. The Library is currently closed for repairs, according to the City of Los Angeles. The city made a concentrated effort to perform outreach among the residents of the camp and in the end, all of the unhoused people there accepted the temporary housing arrangements that were offered to them or left by the deadline of June 13 at the end of the day. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office chose St. Joseph’s Center to take charge of the outreach effort. St. Joseph’s is an unhoused services provider whose workers have been making contact with the residents of the camp since November of 2021 to facilitate efforts to help them. According to Garcetti’s Press Secretary Harrison Wollman outreach began in March of this year. Out of the 66 park residents, according to information from St. Joseph’s Center’s outreach, 41 of the residents accepted the
The encampment at Centennial Park in Venice, seen in March.
interim housing that was offered to them. Among those 41 placements, 33 were placed in motels, six went to Project Roomkey slots, one was a bridge home placement and one was placed in shared housing. LA City Sanitation had scheduled a park
cleaning on June 14 from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. City Sanitation delivered notices by hand to the residents and the notices were posted at the park. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Department of Parks and the LAPD were also part of
General Services (GSD) to negotiate and execute a new or amend an existing lease agreement with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro), the proprietor of the lot. In addition, the motion calls for the GSD to negotiate and execute a sublease agreement with People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), the operator of the shelter. The 154-bed shelter opened in February of 2020 on the 3.15-acre lot that takes up an entire block between Pacific Avenue and Main Street south of Sunset Avenue. MTA closed the lot in 2015 after receiving multiple offers from developers interested in the site. The property can be used temporarily for housing, however, because there is no deal in place.
A Bridge Home shelter in Venice.
Photos: Nick Antonicello
this park cleaning. “I am pleasantly surprised that action is being taken, Linda Martinek, President of Friends of the Venice Library, a nonprofit organization that fundraises to support
Centennial Park, see page 6
Bonin Requests Lease Extension for a Bridge Home Homeless Shelter Motion currently pending in City Council committee BY SAM CATANZARO
Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin is pushing to extend the lease for the A Bridge Home shelter in Venice. On June 17, Bonin submitted a motion to City Council’s Information, Technology and General Services and General Services Committee to extend the lease for the site, located at 100 Sunset Avenue. The motion calls for the Department of
Photos: Sam Catanzaro