Amid hepatitis A concerns, councilman says improving hygiene is “a matter of basic decency”
By Gary Walker
On Sept. 22, residents of homeless encampments on Third Avenue protested the city impounding their belongings by writing messages on empty boxes likely to be seized in the next cleanup. Ben and Becca, formerly a film industry production assistant and make-up artist, have been homeless in Venice for a year.
Photo by Mia Duncans
Following Los Angeles County’s declaration of a hepatitis A outbreak after a surge of cases among homeless populations in San Diego and Santa Cruz, homeless encampments along Third Avenue in Venice may soon be getting portable sinks and 24-hour access to public restrooms on the beach.
Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin is seeking additional city funding to operate existing, emergency and portable restrooms and sinks near encampments and staff them with attendants around the clock to help stem the spread of communicable diseases.
“Providing clean and safe restroom access is a matter of basic decency — and smart public health policy,” Bonin said after submitting a Sept. 26 council motion to request funds. “The recent public health crisis is another frightening reminder of the real costs of continued inaction. We cannot allow red tape to prolong suffering. We must act now to offer people safe places to use the restroom and get cleaned up.
“This is a solvable problem.”
Bonin’s council motion references San Francisco’s “Pit Stop” program, which provides mobile bathrooms and sinks at more than a dozen locations. It is modeled after a mobile shower program that also began in San Francisco, Lava Mae, which already provides mobile showers for homeless people at Third Avenue and in Westchester.
Bonin is also urging the city Department of Recreation and Parks to keep restrooms on Venice Beach open around the clock. He secured funds for 24/7 beach bathroom staffing during budget deliberations earlier this year, but the department has yet to initiate the process.
“This is a public health crisis, and we need to act with urgency,” Bonin said. “It is inhumane and unsafe to deny people access to restrooms. It endangers people living on the street, and it endangers neighbors who find human feces in their alleys and on their sidewalks.”
Los Angeles County health authorities declared a hepatitis A outbreak on Sept. 19 after documenting 10 cases in Los Angeles, many of them linked to the San Diego outbreak that’s killed 17 people.
Anxiety has spread among a group of residents who live near one of Venice’s largest homeless encampments on Third Avenue after learning about the San Diego epidemic. They began asking the Bureau of Sanitation, which conducts regular street cleanings on Third Avenue, to wash nearby sidewalks with bleach prior to the Los Angeles outbreak.
“We are working closely with the L.A. County Department of Public Health to respond proactively to this outbreak, connecting them with on-the-ground service providers to make sure resources and information are getting out as soon as possible via trusted sources. Although there have been no reported cases in our district, service providers such as Venice Family Clinic, Safe Place for Youth and street outreach teams are coordinating free vaccinations to ensure everyone stays safe,” said Bonin spokeswoman Jamarah Hayner.
On Sept. 25, the Venice Neighborhood Council’s Homeless Committee passed a resolution calling for mobile kiosks dispensing vaccines and medical care on a weekly basis, similar to what Hayner said was already happening.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, whose district includes Venice, said understanding how hepatitis A is spread and not fomenting rumors — such as claims last winter of an outbreak of the staph bacteria MRSA on Third Avenue that proved to be false — is critical.
“You are not going to catch it by walking by someone or if you live in a certain area. We have to be proactive in providing vaccines and other assistance, but it’s important that we not overact to this outbreak,” said Kuehl, who supports keeping the Venice Beach restrooms open.
In the midst of the discussions about restrooms and hepatitis A, homeless activists are decrying what they say are recent heavy-handed tactics by Bureau of Sanitation employees, who they say have begun confiscating the possessions of homeless people on Third Avenue during previously routine sidewalk cleanups.
gary@argonautnews.com
Your reporter and our congressman need to pay a visit to Third–there are no longer encampments on the street. Putting up attended bathrooms would be a waste of taxpayers dollars.
First of all 3rd is clean and very few if any are camping there now as of 10/6//17. The opening of the Venice Beach boardwalk bathrooms with their stainless steel toliets would help a great deal. Putting toilets on 3rd would worsen the environment that has been cleaned of recent weeks! 3rd st was ground zero for an outbreak before the LA Sanitation cleanup.More than any other place because of the pollution cause by Public Storage, the Norway Rat infestation, the open perishables being dumped, the meth heads, mental patiences and the storm drains close by that go into a toxic pond that young unvaccinated children play in! There is nothing like this danger zone anywhere in Venice Beach. Its truly the worst Camp anywhere West of the Mississippi River! This camp needs to be shut down permanently! Please go to my website to see over a year in pictures of 3rd that proves that camping on 3rd is dangerous to the health of the homeless, residents and tourists that come to this beach. https://www.facebook.com/illegalDumpingVeniceBeach2016/?ref=bookmarks
There aren’t many people on Third since the last major cleanup, so it makes me wonder if Bonin is going to install port-a-lets at every street corner where there might be an unhoused person camping. There are a good many narrow sidewalks in Venice where the homeless stay. Are these ‘solutions’ of his going to replace parking places?
Regarding property seizures, it’s clear that the City is enforcing the 60 gallon limit once again. This, in itself, helps the sanitation department do more thorough cleanings as well as pick up all the illegally dumped furniture that’s from Public Storage or from people too lazy to call 311 for pickup.
3rd st by Rose Ave is clean for the 1st time in three years. Things are actually finally improving in our neighborhood because the LAPD and Sanitation Dept are finally being allowed to do their jobs. The reason the hepatitis outbreak occurred in the first place was because these encampments were allowed to grow unchecked. By providing bathrooms on 3rd st you are simply going to draw the homeless back to the area and negate all of the progress that has been made. It will be one huge giant step backwards. Re-open the beach bathrooms at night rather than building new ones adjacent to residential neighborhoods, unless of course Mike Bonin is willing to build a bathroom on his neighborhood block.
Mike if you open the beach bathrooms at night it is IMPERATIVE that you have attendants (with police radio backup) maintaining the bathrooms. Otherwise, the bathrooms will be magnets for crime. Also, the doors need to be updated to prevent the noisy slamming that occurs. Remember these bathrooms front hundreds of resident’s homes that are asleep. It will be tricky.
A couple questions for Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl who claims MRSA on 3rd was a Hoax. Did she talk to Jamine Mouflard, Lava-Maes L.A. Director? She claimed at our VNC recorded meeting that ” “We saw six individuals who were taking drugs to treat MRSA and another three people who have the open sores that suggest they also are infected with the staphylococcus bacteria.” Not a Hoax and she is your team member who said this! Also name the doctor and the lab that you sent to 3rd to test these folks please! Thats the only way you can make sure these claims were a hoax or not. I don’t believe our Supervisor Sheila Kuela sent any doctors only RN’s who can’t not diagnose diseases or they would lose their license to practice. Its very important now we get the facts straight because this Hepatitis A Outbreak can spread fast!
One thing you can count on –for all their supposed disgust with dirty streets, Venice’s NIMBYs sure seem to never tire of all their own pissing:
Over all of any of the proposed solutions.