July 6, 2021
I wanted to send a heart-felt thank you to all of our new subscribers and to the many of you who have already donated to the campaign. This is a completely grassroots effort, and it will take all of us working together to bring new leadership to City Hall!
Many of you have already personally reached out to me with very thoughtful emails and provided constructive feedback on social media. I really appreciate you taking the time and effort to share your thoughts. I want you to know I take your input very seriously.
I also wanted to acknowledge the many of you who expressed your frustration with the lack of engagement from Mr. Bonin and his staff. Even if he is not listening, I AM. I welcome all of you to contact me with your concerns – I will happily schedule time to talk to you one-on-one. Or, even better, I will personally come to your neighborhood to meet you and other concerned residents to talk about the problems you are facing and what we can do to solve them. I am fully committed to being accessible and engaged.
I’ve watched in outrage over the last few months as fires raged in the Ballona Wetlands and the Pacific Palisades, threatening lives, infrastructure, natural resources, and wildlife. Three senior citizens from Venice have been murdered, and another was violently attacked twice on the Venice boardwalk. A security guard at a local Venice skate and snowboard shop was savagely beaten and is lucky to be alive. A neighbor lost her home and beloved pet in a fire set at her home. A man was savagely murdered in his tent in the Ocean Front Walk encampment just two weeks ago.
There was more even more horrific news just over the 4th of July weekend: a shooting near Washington Square that caused serious injury to the victim, a drive-by shooting that left a man dead on Venice Boulevard, and a young couple in Santa Monica savagely attacked leaving a public parking structure in their vehicle. We cannot allow these incidents to become our new norm.
For too long, our current Councilmember has ignored his responsibility to protect public safety for the families, businesses, and visitors in our community. We all know the only reason Mr. Bonin finally showed up in Venice is because that’s where the political wind is blowing. But where is the help for Westchester? And Mar Vista? And the other parts of CD-11 that are in crisis? The silence from Mr. Bonin’s office is deafening.
I believe that restoring public safety – and empowering law enforcement to do their job – is just one of many steps that must be taken immediately to make our communities safe. There is no reason this cannot be done in a compassionate and humane manner. We’ve all just witnessed a massive outreach effort in Venice that involved numerous service providers and the cooperation of law enforcement. This approach can and does work, and we need to demand much more of it!
I look forward to hearing from more of you, and keeping you all in the loop as our campaign moves forward. In the meantime, keep doing your best, and I will do the same.
Traci Park