This Sunday from 3-5 pm at Beyond Baroque, there will be a discussion on “Restoring Venice Cityhood”. The meeting is co-sponsored by Free Venice Beachhead, Venice Peace & Freedom and Venice Town Council.
From Jim Smith at The Beachhead:
Is Real Independence for Venice Possible?
Venice
A dream so sublime
A fate so unfair
What more can be said about Venice after 105 years? Venice has nearly everything: a beautiful beach, a great climate, walk streets galore, a multi-racial and multi-cultural population, a thriving arts and poetry scene, a habit of creating trends that sweep the country and the world.
Yes, Venice has everything except independence. Does it really matter that we can’t make decisions for ourselves, and that our highest form of democracy to is be able to advise others when they make decisions for us. Well, yes, it does matter. In a supposedly democratic country, we are ruled by politicians and bureaucrats in a building many miles to the east of us.
Recently, Venetians have conducted long struggles that have resulted in victories. Just last month, we convinced the Coastal Commission to deny a pay parking scheme devised for us in that high-rise city hall in downtown Los Angeles.
Years of effort by many Venetians preserved the biggest chunk of our reasonable rental property – Lincoln Place. Last year at this time we defeated pay parking (it’s starting to be a regular event). Before that, we stopped the giant shopping center where Ralphs, Rite-Aid and Ross now reside. We’ve prevented numerous attempts to run a freeway through the center of Venice, we saved the canals, more or less. At least they didn’t become a yacht harbor. Those high-rises along Ocean Front Walk, like Santa Monica Shores, never got built.
These, and many more, are all great victories for Venice. Problem is, we were on the defensive every time. Strategists including Sun Tzu, Clausewitz and Napoleon, will tell you that you can’t really win a lasting victory unless you go on the offensive. We’ve won many battles, but the war cannot be won if we are always responding to someone else’s initiative.
This is why everyone who wants a Venice that is unique, and democratic, should now turn their attention to working for and restoring our status as a city.
To continue reading the rest of the article, please click over to The BeachHead here.
Sunday, July 25th 2010
Beyond Baroque
681 Venice Blvd.
