Residents expressed fears over illegal encampments causing wildfires and concerns over a growing number of transients moving to the area in a meeting Thursday, Oct.23.
About 40 people came together at the Palisades Branch Library, for a meeting to focus on homelessness.
Facilitated by State Assemblymember Richard Bloom’s office and the Pacific Palisades Community Council, participation is open to the public.
Bruce Schwartz, a local realtor who volunteered to chair the newly formed group, said the illegal camps have increased the threat of wildfires.
Courtesy of Brian Deming
Occupants of these makeshift dwellings often use open flames to cook in areas of dense brush that are prone to fire, he explained.
The threat is also further exacerbated by California’s ongoing drought, according to fire officials.
“It’s just a matter of time before something ignites,” Schwartz said. “It’s a ticking time bomb.”
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Stephanie Cohen, a field representative from Bloom’s office, who initiated the group’s formation during a PPCC meeting earlier this month, said the meetings are a starting point.
Solutions need to be district-wide to be effective, not simply push the issue to another neighborhood, Cohen explained.
Helping count transients here in the Palisades, as part of the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority’s 2015 count, is a way volunteers can help, according to city officials.
Norman Kulla, Senior Counsel to Councilmember Mike Bonin, said he remembers Venice and Westchester residents participating in the last count but did not recall anyone from the Palisades taking part.
Participation in the homeless count is a highly meaningful volunteer activity for the Palisades, he said to the group.
Getting the right expertise and people to those in need takes resources, Kulla said.
By participating in LA’s homeless count, residents can help the city receive funding for programs helping end “houselessness.”
Los Angeles Park Ranger Albert Torres said the city’s approach to transient encampments changed after City Hall got hit with an injunction a few years ago.
Torres was referring to a lawsuit, Lavan vs. The City of Los Angeles, filed by a group of skid row transients and advocates that bars the city from seizing houseless people’s property, such as tents and other materials.
Unless the immediate threat is present, the lawsuit requires seized property to be stored in a secure place for no less than 90 days before city authorities can legally destroy it. Warehouses donated by businesses near skid row have already filled, and the city is overwhelmed.
Advocates for the “houseless” say that ownership is defined by possession and for many individuals, these outside dwellings and belongings are their home.
Torres said the injunction makes the job of his department, which has a total of 12 sworn peace officers, more challenging.
His officers use “low-grade enforcement,” such as citing people for illegal camping, placing no signs, fencing or smoking regulations in city parks as enforcement tools, Torres said.
Torres’ jurisdiction includes the bluff area below Corona del Mar in the Huntington, where residents say nearly 60 transients and more than 10 camps are located.
The area is considered city park property.
Torres said he has been visiting the Palisades more frequently lately because of encampment activity near Murphy Ranch.
The historic ranch area is owned by the city and surrounded by State Parkland.
Within hours of the meeting, as if his words were a warning, a brush fire ignited near the area Torres had mentioned.
Those interested in volunteering with this group can email BruceSchwartz2012@yahoo.com.
Other individuals and groups can sign up by visiting www.lahsa.org/homelesscount.asp.
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