Mark Lipman: VNC

Re-Imagine What Venice Can Be

If anywhere in this world can be the example

of how, working together as a community, we

can overcome any obstacle, with all the

incredible talent we have right here,

Venice is that place.

By bringing people together and using

our creative minds, we can decide,

“What is Possible.”

The Future of Venice is up to all of us.

Venice Based Solutions

Housing:

· 100% Affordable Housing for METRO Yard Project

· End Housing Loss due to Short Term Vacation Rentals

· Enforce Existing Codes to Protect Tenants from Illegal Evictions

· Quality Repairs Ordinance w/ “Good Landlord Repair Subsidy”

· 30-day Minimum Lease for all “Residential” Rentals

· Historic Preservation Overlay Zone for Venice

(with Preservation Funding for Home Owners)

· Decriminalization of Status: Housing First

and Proper Services for our Unhoused Residents

(most humane and cost effective solution)

Public Services:

· Properly Funding Oakwood Recreation Center, Vera Davis Center,

Penmar Park and the Public Library for Free Meeting and Event Spaces

for the Community (day and evening)

· Properly Maintained Public Bathrooms (open day and night)

Diversity:

· Protections and Economic Stimulus for Low-Income

and Minority Owned Businesses

· Expand VNC Outreach to Under-Represented Communities

· Language Justice: Bi-Lingual / Translated Board Meetings

· Building upon our Great Cultural Heritage to Expand the Arts

Education:

· No Privatization of our Public Schools – Get Realtors off Campuses

· Proper Funding for Computer Labs and other Needed Programs

· Work with Poets to Support Literacy in our Neighborhood Schools

Environment:

· Preservation for our Coastline and Coastal Zone

· Develop a Water Plan w/ City to Subsidize Rain Water Collection

· Expand our Community Gardening Programs

Budget:

· End the 80% Tax Break for Big Tech,

(Direct that Revenue to Addressing the Effects of Gentrification in Venice.)

· Call on City Hall to Properly Fund Needed Venice Services

· Audit and Accountability for the Venice Surplus Property Fund

Responsible Development

It’s a question of fairness. Above all else, Venice is a community. As an elected council, the VNC is entrusted with making the right decisions and advocating for the best interest of our entire community, not for just one select group. We must respect the cultural heritage which makes Venice a top destination for Southern California and do everything in our power to protect and preserve the social, racial, economic and historical diversity of the place we call home.

We must look for new ways of envisioning development, based upon the real needs of our community, and although property rights must be respected, limits need to be made as to just how much property one person, or entity, should be allowed to own and control. There comes a point when we must say to ourselves that the needs of the larger community come before the profits of a few.

As a small business owner based in Venice, I whole-heartedly support any effort we can make to help our local entrepreneurs succeed, again though we must do this responsibly and take into account that while our longest standing – often minority and low-income business owners, with much community support – are being driven out of Venice by soaring rents, so tourist boutiques can decimate Abbot Kinney and Rose Ave., dissecting our neighborhoods with unaffordable shopping districts for local residents, whose own rents are shooting through the roof, creating a displacement crisis for many of our Venetian tenants, who often face eviction so their bedrooms can be rented out for $350 a night to tourists, while companies like Google and Snapchat get an 80% Tax Break to buy up entire blocks and gentrify our neighborhoods, all for the sake of profit – none of which by the way comes back to our local community to help alleviate the effects of the disastrous economic policies of gentrification imposed on Venice from City Hall.

As a community there’s a lot we can do better. Status quo is not good enough. As a council we need to advocate for real solutions to the problems we face, founded on true social, economic, racial and environmental justice.

By bringing more people together, including more voices and listening to more ideas, we as a community can overcome any obstacle and create a vision for our combined future that includes us all.