We marched down the Boardwalk with drums, flutes and signs 

       We didn’t give up when confronted by the police

       We staged concerts, art auctions, funerals and hands across the Boardwalk

       We showed up at ever lottery drawing. 

       We went to every city council meeting

       We showed up at their fake Venice party

       We lived and breathed freedom of speech

      They took everything we did and reduced it to nothing but Peggy, Calvin, Woody and Jingles !  

 One Sunny Sunday Afternoon  by Therese Dietlin

On the afternoon of Sunday, July 18, 2005 Victor, of Rec and Parks bicycled over to the corner of Dudley and the Boardwalk to inform a couple non- lottery people that we were set up illegally.  (We were in an undesignated space.) He said that if the police saw us, they would give us a ticket.  When I informed him that I had been setting  up in that particular space for over two years and the police had gone by several times and not said anything, he assured me I was illegally set up; that he could “call the police right now and they would come over and give (me) a ticket.”  After some discussion, he got on his bicycle and rode back to his office at Windward Plaza .

 
I have, indeed, been setting up in that spot at the corner of Dudley and the Boardwalk every Sunday for well over two years.  Let me explain it. When the summer months were upon us a couple years back, the Boardwalk filled up one Sunday, the only day I could be there, with “artists and free expressionists” as it is wont to do during the summer months.  Prior to that day, I would arrive around 9am (setup time) and take the spot I found still available.  That Sunday, there were none,  nor was anyone willing to slide over a couple squares and make room for me.  You see, my political table is tolerable at best, amidst all those “free expressionists” out there showing the results of their “free expression” or demonstrating it in performance or Tarot, palm or aura readings on the spot.  I was “bad for business,” I was told on more than one occasion.  (What “business” has to do with free expression is an open question, but that's a topic for another column.)  As I strolled the Boardwalk, looking for SOMEPLACE I could squeeze into, Ibrahim invited me to join him at his location.  He pulled back several of his displays and drew his circle of performers tighter to make room for me.  Because of his generosity, I was able to set up after all.  We agreed tspace would always be a problem in the summer, and he invited me to return the next week.  Now, people look for me there. 

 In thinking over my exchange with Victor, I realized I had never been given trouble by artists on the Boardwalk.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for vendors (who aren't supposed to be there, anyway).  People setting up with the goal of making money have shown themselves to be absolutely fanatical about getting not just a spot, but THE SPOT.  I have had my stuff kicked across the Boardwalk when making the mistake of thinking space occupation really was determined on a “first come, first served” basis.  I have had people tell me they were saving several feet on either side of them for “friends who would be coming later,” but never materialized.  I have had people tell me they don't want me next to them because, as I have already stated, I am “bad for their business.”  Venice Boardwalk is supposed to be for free expression.  Free expression was very clearly defined in the old Ordinance 42.15 – the one that existed before Cindy Miscikowksi got herself appointed CD11 councilperson and started mucking around with it.  Thanks to her diligence and efforts we now have a bona fide weekend swap meet on the Boardwalk, with the real artists and free  expressionists either resisting or going away.  Thank you, Cindy, and all you council members who supported her proposal. 

The new Ordinance will probably go away, but the damage to the Boardwalk is considerable and without the concerted effort of people who truly care about what it stands for the damage will remain. 

Free Speechers like myself feel we need a designated space of our own: one where   only reimbursement for commercial items pertaining to the message being promoted (CDs, DVDs, books,  bumper stickers, etc.) will be allowed, period.  The people making untaxed income with pure profit and no overhead are not going to go away quietly.  They probably won't go away at all without some strong action taken against them.  And they have a history of threatening others whose interests extend well beyond making a quick untraceable buck.  In the meantime, there are many artists and free expressionists on the Boardwalk as their schedules and obligations allow who need to be protected from these individuals.  Either, let's get vendors off the Boardwalk or take steps to protect those who are on the Boardwalk for legitimate reasons. 

Final thought:  Do others find those wastebaskets riveted to the cement with their not-so-subtle implication of still more regimentation to be ugly eyesores?  Pass your thoughts along to the new Boardwalk newsletter.  spirit_of_venice@yahoo.com

 

Proposal by Dave Bradt

A posted 'NO VENDING' zone. Sixteen spaces between Brooks Av. and Park Av. reserved for free speech. When there is no lottery each morning there is a gold rush for free land by frantic people desperately eeking out a living and free speech people are quickly elbowed out. You have the power to allow a place where ideas are more precious than gold. Any ideas, questions, comments or suggestions:   davebradt@AOL.com

Activists Cited for Being in a ‘designated space w/out Permit’

Venice Beach activists ticketed by LAPD for being in a 'designated area w/out a permit' in the Free Speech Zone on Venice Boardwalk Sunday, March 13, 2005. The 'designated area' is part of L.A. City's lottery/permit system being boycotted by a group of artist-activists in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, CA.  

John Michel was cited because he had a display in the designated area but no permit.  Barbara, who was helping him pack up his display because he has a bad back, had spent most of the afternoon standing further down the boardwalk protesting the lottery with her ‘Stop the Lottery’ sign. She was cited for displaying her sign as she stood next to John while he got a ticket.  As Officer Putnam wrote on the ticket “in a designated area w/o a permit”, he told her he was ticketing her for “protesting” and he had “the evidence” (see photo above) to prove it. This is a direct violation of Barbara’s First Amendment Rights and she has been going to court on this ticket since April.  Although the ticket was a misdemeanor filed as an Infraction, Barbara had it switched back to a Misdemeanor (under Penal Code 17D – a “wobblet”)  entitling her to a Public Defender and a jury trial to establish her innocence and her right to Free Speech in the Free Speech Zone on Venice Boardwalk.  

Barbara said: “I did not intend to get a ticket that day.  I was simply trying to help Dr. John pick up his things.  It’s obvious that Putnam is targeting us because we’ve been protesting the lottery since it began on March 1^st.  Most, if not all, of the protesters were ticketed one way or another in the first two weeks.  LAPD, the Deputy City Attorney, Gita Isagholian, and Rec & Parks have actually condoned commercial vending while at the same time prosecuting protesters in court on the tax-payers dollar.”

This is just another episode in an on-going campaign by Los Angeles City (through the LAPD) to crack down on Free Speech protestors rather than identify and eliminate commercial vendors who proliferate on Venice Boardwalk in the Free Speech Zone, in direct violation of LAMC 42:15.     Email us for info