Board Approves Motion: 7 Yes, 5 No & 5 Abstentions
By Nick Antonicello
It seems a third time is a charm for the residents of Washington Boulevard who finally received the backing of their neighborhood council Tuesday evening with six board members voting in the affirmative, five voting in opposition and six members choosing to abstain.
It was a strange vote as a majority of members took no position despite the fact dozens of Washington Boulevard supported the resolution, but a vote was interrupted by board members Helen Fallon and Lisa Redmond choosing to leave the May meeting which ended in the board losing its quorum, effectively ending the meeting.
The motion, authored by Community Officer Clark Brown who is a retired Venice attorney received strong support and action by the Office of Councilwoman Traci Park (CD-11) and Park herself who was in attendance and had signs posted along Washington that saw scores of RVs voluntarily move, as some forty RVs was reduced to single digits in just a few weeks.
With the strong support of Councilwoman Park, the crisis has been addressed, but the fear is that more RVs could return. The purpose of the motion was to ensure the neighborhood is supporting the efforts by the council office.
Efforts to prevent a vote had gone on for weeks, but finally the residents and stakeholders were heard.
A “Yes” vote supported the Washington Boulevard action, a “No” did not.
Here is the official recorded vote:
- Brian Averill – Abstained
- Jim Robb – Abstained
- Tima Bell – NO
- Helen Fallon – NO
- Michael Jensen – YES
- Nico Ruderman – YES
- Erica Moore – NO
- Lisa Redmond – RECUSED
- Robert Thibodeaux – YES
- Alley Bean – NO
- Clark Brown – YES
- Steve Bradbury – YES
- Yolanda Gonzalez – YES
- Deborah Keaton – YES
- Eric Donaldson – Abstained
- Fran Solomon – Abstained
- CJ Cole – Suspended
- Bruno Hernandez – Abstained
- Jason Sugars – NO
- Christoper Lee – Absent
In other board action, the VNC voted to oppose ICE raids here in Venice and support the undocumented Venice community.
Nick Antonicello is a thirty-two-year resident of the neighborhood who covers the deliberations of the Venice Neighborhood Council. Have a take or a tip on all things Venice? E-mail him at nantoni@mindspring.com
