WESTSIDE - Having observed VNC President David Feige since being elected to serve the remainder of this unexpired term on the board, he is hardly a shrinking violet and has the patience and perseverance of Saint Monica!

Herding twenty different and diversified personalities in one direction isn't easy, but lawyer turned producer turned community advocate David Feige is giving it his best effort.

A television producer, documentary filmmaker, former public defender, and neighborhood activist concerned primarily about quality-of-life concerns, Feige moved to Los Angeles, after spending years as a public defender in the Bronx (New York City) and later wrote and produced television shows and documentaries focused on the criminal justice system.

In February 2026, he was elected President of the Venice Neighborhood Council after serving on its Land Use and Planning Committee (LUPC). His advocacy regarding noise levels, nightlife, and other quality-of-life issues around Washington Square and nearby businesses has come with heated criticism and push back as his willingness to file complaints or press city agencies to enforce regulations has made him a local lightening rod of sorts depending on your point-of-view.

His outspoken positions on land use and neighborhood issues have made waves in the neighborhood, while supporters argue that he is doing exactly what a neighborhood council president should do by addressing stakeholder gripes and complaints.

To his credit, he has worked with businesses and community advocates to resolve disputes rather than simply opposing them, and some local business owners have publicly defended him and described him as someone who works through disagreements constructively.

So, whether someone considers him a "Karen" depends largely on their perspective.

Critics use the term because they believe he overemphasizes enforcement and complaints, particularly regarding nightlife and neighborhood impacts, especially in a poor economic climate. Supporters see him as an engaged advocate trying to balance residents' quality of life with Venice's unique composition and character.

Below is his first direct message to the neighborhood, unveiling some new tracking devices as to what the VNC is actually doing and up to these days.

Keep in mind this is a directly elected, advisory governmental unit, and volunteer position with no compensation compounded with plenty of controversy and headache.

In essence, the VNC makes recommendations; the City of Los Angeles makes decisions.

As the neighborhood's first line of defense and grass roots engagement, here is President David Feige unfiltered and transparent: 

It has been five months since I was elected to the presidency of the Venice Neighborhood Council, and I have waited until now to write to all of you.

I did that because as many of you know, the VNC has been struggling: with disagreements about our rules, systems, and processes.  In short, we have too often let arguments about process obstruct our progress and it has taken the first five months to begin to address some of these basic internal governance issues. That is why I have not reached out until now.

But things are beginning to change, and that with that change it is my hope that a new engagement by you with us might begin to emerge.

To give you an example of some simple things we are doing to improve governance and accountability: When I was elected there was no way to track the motions we considered. If a stakeholder wanted to find out what we had done, the only way to do that was comb through our website, and read years’ worth of minutes in the vain hope of finding something. This was not helpful to the casual stakeholder interested in what we were doing for Venice.  Thus, one of the very first things I did as President was institute a basic system of nomenclature: Our first motion was 01-26-VNC and so forth.

Simply numbering motions has allowed us to begin to track what we’ve considered and what we’ve done, and in the near future our website will be updated with a page (called “what we’ve done) through which you will actually be able to see every motion we’ve passed, and the letters we’ve written to the city as a result to express the will of the community. (You can see a prototype of that page here:  https://roaring-capybara-ddb7a1.netlify.app) To date we have passed over 80 motions, and now, for the first time, any interested stakeholder can begin to get a handle on what we’re doing and (via the supporting documents) why.

Next, our system for creating and properly posting agendas and minutes has been compromised for ages. In the next few months we will be rolling out an automated system that is designed to allow both the board and committee chairs to create and disseminate agendas earlier so that you—the community can know what is upcoming. To that end, I will also be personally more focused on alerting all of you to upcoming issues. Finally at our last meeting, the board passed a number of rules that we hope will streamline our process to shift the balance a bit from process to progress.

As you know, land use is a consistent point of contention in Venice, and for years we have heard that neighbors in the immediate vicinity of places applying for permits have not gotten sufficient notice of what was going on and/or when those applications would be heard by our Land Use Planning Committee (LUPC). To help with that, we have created a system of door hangers that we’re planning to distribute to immediate neighbors alerting them to the fact that LUPC and the VNC will be hearing an application. Why? Because we want you in the loop, we want your feedback—whatever it is—and we want all of you to be more engaged.

To that end, in the near future, we’re aiming to add a feature that allows you to better tailor these e-mails to your preferences, and we will--once again--be sending out more regular communications about our local issues, as well as the occasional letter like this about our general progress.

When functioning well (something that’s still a ways off, but hopefully at least in sight) the Venice Neighborhood Council can and should be one of the first places you think to bring your concerns, but also your visions—of what a better Venice looks like. We are also in the process of empowering our committees, and those committees want to hear from you: Not just Land Use, but our Arbor Committee wants to hear from you about trees and green space, our Homelessness committee wants to hear from you about the ongoing issues concerning our unhoused neighbors, our Parking Infrastructure and Transportation committee wants to hear from you about bike lanes, traffic issues, road problems and public transportation improvements, Our Public Safety Committee wants to hear your concerns about policing and safety, and, of course, our Ocean Front Walk committee is excited to hear all your thoughts about the vibrant corridor along the ocean that helps (among so many others) to make Venice, Venice.

In short, while we still have challenges, I believe this board is committed to smoothing the way for your concerns and visions to be genuinely heard and considered. Obviously there’s no guarantee that something you want will pass—we are after all a democracy aiming to synthesize the wonderfully various viewpoints of a proudly iconoclastic collective—and in the end it is still the votes that count. But genuinely hearing from you all, being open minded and willing to listen and honestly and compassionately debate your concerns and visions is what I hope the VNC can once again begin do. And in doing so, it’s my hope that we can begin to rebuild the trust and connection between this wonderful community, and the passionate people who have been elected to give them voice and with whom I serve.

So please know that we are available to you.  And if you have a moment, please take a look at our website (venicenc.org) where you can find the list of committees, and the calendar of events. And, of course, please consider sometime in the next several months, actually coming to a meeting and sharing your thoughts.

The VNC board meets on the third Tuesday of each month. Our next three meetings will be held August 18th, September 15th, and October 20th.

I’ve joked in the past that it’s not quite like we’re open for business—in the parlance of restaurants, this is more of a soft opening—a kind of friends and family time while we continue to work things out over the next few months. But we’re getting close, and since you really are our friends and family and neighbors and community it’s time to at least let you know that soon or whenever you’re ready—we’d love to have you back.

I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

David

David Feige

President

Venice Neighborhood Council

[email protected]

(424) 299-9530

(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-three-year resident of the neighborhood who has exclusively covered the deliberations of the Venice Neighborhood Council. Have a take or a tip on all things Venice? Contact him via e-mail at [email protected])