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WESTSIDE - The Oceanfront Walk Committee of the Venice Neighborhood Council had a change of venue Wednesday evening as they met for the first time at the headquarters of the Venice BID (Business Improvement District) located at 1320 Pacific Avenue.
Community Officer and Chairperson Deborah Keaton called the meeting to order and announce the appointment of new committee member Kevin Orantes.
The OFW Committee is made-up of seven members: Keaton, me, Nico Ruderman, Clark Brown (secretary), Fran Soloman, Orantes and Mehrnoosh Mojallali.
The meeting started with a video on a local news report that stated tourism at the beach was down, and visitation and tourists from Canada had decreased significantly in lieu of the new tariff policies of the Trump Administration.
Eleni Polakoff, the executive director of the Venice BID welcomed the committee to its offices and briefly outlined the purpose of this organization.
Funded by property owners inside the boundaries of the district, they employ three, full-time staffers and contract another twenty-five or so employees who work at maintaining the cleanliness and quality-of-life issues within the area of the member property owners.
The Venice BID's motto is "clean & safe."
According to Polakoff, the Venice BID has an operating budget of about $2.1 million dollars.
To learn more about the Venice Bid, visit them online at www.venicebeachbid.com
Under public comment, Jay Stark a principal at The Pinyon Group, offered some insight into the status of the old bus yard property, which served until recently as the Venice Bridge Housing facility. Stark's company has been awarded the contract to develop the site into 340 residential units along Main Street of which 75% will be the market rate, and 25% affordable units.
Offered will be three-bedroom, two-bedroom, one-bedroom and studio units.
There will also be ground floor retail and Stark look forward to engaging the Venice community anticipating construction in about 18 months. In the meantime, Stark would like to "activate the property" in its pre-development phase to the public in anticipation of such events like the World Cup in 2026 and the Summer Olympics in 2028 if possible.
According to his online resume, Stark is actively involved in various boards and community initiatives and he has previously served on the board of Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles, Grand Performances, and served on the State of California’s principal affordable housing commission from 2005 to 2012; and serves as a board advisor to OppSites, a real estate technology firm.
Under government reports, Sean Silva the Venice Deputy for LA City Councilwoman Traci Park (CD-11) addressed the committee with updates on the current city budget crisis, upcoming events at the beach this summer, the 2028 Olympics, and the current bollard functionality at the beach and other issues of safety and quality of life concerns.
Silva stressed the Councilwoman is committed to summer initiatives at the beach and the renewal of the "The Last Thursday" summer concert series for the months of June, July and August.
Silva noted the goal of the Councilwoman is to offer a variety of "family friendly" activity that will draw crowds and interest to the beach this summer.
The first major event will be a two-day, Juneteenth skating contest featuring Paul Rodriguez.
Widely known as "P-Rod," he is a professional skateboarder from Los Angeles and celebrated for his technical prowess and influential role in the skateboarding culture.
The son of actor and comedian Paul Rodriguez began skateboarding at age 12 and quickly gained recognition for his skills. At 14, he was recruited by a local skate shop team, marking the start of his professional journey. His first major sponsor was DNA Skateboards, and he appeared in their 1999 video Microanalysis.
This event will also include music, and the details will be made available by Park's office shortly.
Silva also announced improvements to be made at the Skate Park shortly, as well as supplemental barriers to be installed at OFW in lieu of problems with the bollards at the boardwalk. Described as a financial "money pit," it is estimated that some $3.5 million dollars has been expended on the construction and maintenance of a system that can best described as faulty and flawed.
The system in place was installed under former Councilman Mike Bonin.
Silva assured those in attendance that Park is investigating more reliable alternatives and that keeping Venice Beach "clean and safe," was her highest priority.
It was also reiterated that Venice will have a notable participation in the 28 Summer Games with the start of the triathlon, marathon and cycling events here at the beach while the council office was considering a town hall of sorts to get resident feedback on the impending Olympics as well. Broad discussion took place on infrastructure improvements to OFW, but with the current budget crisis hovering over city officials compounded by the wildfire devastation in January, Silva asked those in attendance to hold their thoughts until the final budget is introduced and passed by the LA City Council.
With a worst-case scenario of some 1,700 layoffs, and huge reductions in staffing across the board, Silva assured the room Park would be doing all she could to prioritize the city's needs under these worst of circumstances with an emphasis of keeping LA safe.
The Committee noted some housekeeping issues with prior minutes, and that issue will be resolved at the June meeting.
(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-two-year resident of the neighborhood and exclusively covers 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])
