Column: Yikes! Is Sheriff Villaneuva actually making sense about homelessness in Venice Beach?https://archive.vn/GpV0K#selection-2063.9-2063.103Some insist the explosion of people living on the street is a result of addiction and mental illness. Others blame the lack of affordable housing.
Anyone capable of critical thinking, however, can see it’s actually all of those things. The causes of the current misery on Oceanfront Walk, where about 200 people in various states of distress are sleeping in tents, shooting up, drinking, smoking meth and often acting out in violent or self-destructive ways (not to mention making life hell for residents, business owners and tourists), are deeply tangled and multifactorial. ...
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Still, Sheriff Alex Villanueva came off his usual arrogant, posturing self when he swooped down on Venice Beach and announced his intention of clearing the boardwalk of homeless folks and their tents by July 4.
His action was certainly meant to show up both the LAPD, which has said its hands are tied in dealing with the Venice situation, and L.A. City Councilman Mike Bonin, who furiously denounced the sheriff on Twitter.
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But you know what? Since Villanueva’s surprise invasion of Venice in early June, I’ve started wondering whether the slap in the face he delivered was just what the doctor ordered.
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It pains me to say this, since our sheriff sometimes behaves like a lawless rogue, but maybe his grandstanding will pay off for the many long-suffering people of Venice Beach, and by people I mean the housed, the unhoused, the business owners and the tourists.
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When people speak of this stretch of beach as an open-air asylum, they are not exaggerating.
This is an LA Times opinion column. If for no other reason, read some of it to savor the writer's dismay at admitting that Villanueva is actually correct - in his actions, and in his in-your-facing LAPD and LA city council morons. There's also an element of mugged-liberal in the mix.
