Time for a reset of the political process?

Things aren’t going as smoothly as one would hope at the moment.
Friday night and Saturday morning my phone blew up about Friday’s invasions of private properties and Beaches and the lack of response from the Sheriff’s Department. Lifeguards called for law enforcement backup and didn’t get it. Homeowners called the Lost Hills Sheriff’s station repeatedly about fireworks and strangers partying on the homeowner’s decks and the promised patrol cars never appeared. Has our Sheriff decided that we complain too much and we need a little “Freeway Therapy”? Have they taken a page from the actions of the Fire Department during the Woolsey fire and decided to protect life only?
“Freeway Therapy” is a discipline used by the Sheriff’s Department. Troublesome members of law enforcement are reassigned to the furthest station from their residence to give them plenty of commute time to contemplate their fall from grace.
This weekend’s bright spot was the actions of our Volunteers on Patrol who managed to write over 300 parking tickets in the matter of a few hours on a single day. If they had the time and endurance they could have doubled that number. Our visitors have gotten the impression that the entire vehicle code no longer applies during the pandemic.
A more systemic political issue seem to be the result of the actions of a group of true believers who are convinced that only a total solution designed 100 percent by themselves is acceptable. They are uninterested in any incremental solutions that could move policies in the direction they claim to favor.
Prior to the end of 2019, those who wanted to ban Short Term Rentals turned out in force to reject a solution drafted by the City that would solve 75% of their problems immediately. The group rejected the solution in favor of a remedy that would require a lot more work and the approval of the Coastal Commission at the cost of at least 12 months delay. The possibility of getting 75% of the loaf immediately was rejected out of the fear that the pressure for the 100% solution would be dissipated.
The gentleman who initially raised the alarm about grading and graveling of the temporary SCE equipment yard on Stuart Ranch Road and demanded its immediate restoration has now appealed the restoration permit granted by the City to the Coastal Commission. The result is that the eyesore he claimed to despise will remain until the CC weighs in. He’s filed another appeal to the Coastal Commission blocking the City from repairing Civic Center Way and adding a walkway and bike path. He fears the work, entirely within the road easement, is too close to ESHA.
Last Monday, May 11th the City Council had scheduled an item to discuss a possible solution to one aspect of the Homeless situation. Due to the precedent set by the Boise decision we municipalities cannot prevent camping or overnight parking if there is no alternative “Safe place” for them to sleep. The agendized item was to explore a Zoning Text Amendment that would allow a Temporary Use Permit for the overnight parking in an area of the Zuma Beach parking lot. If the Council had voted in favor of drafting the ZTA, the resultant draft ZTA would have gone to a public Planning Commission hearing. The final document would then have been vetted again at a City Council meeting. There was nothing close to a done deal.
The Safe Parking program as contemplated would not have helped those who are truly homeless, the tent and/or huddle against a building unfortunates. The space would have had a staff that checks the vehicles in and out and monitors the location the entire night. If we had a designated “Safe Space” for vehicular camping the Sheriffs could approach those parked illegally, inform them of the Safe Parking location, the rules for utilizing it and instruct them that it’s time to move on.
The system in place in Laguna Beach requires that those parking agree to vacate each morning, sign up with the outreach counselors and work towards getting housing. These requirements eliminate the vehicular campers who just want to party. They typically reject the offer and move on to other communities with less surveillance.
Unfortunately, the discussion never happened because a group of ill-informed True Believers spread the word that the City Council was planning to put a homeless encampment at Zuma Beach with no notice to the public. The discussion and any possible solutions that should have been explored were not explored. The result is that we are no closer to solutions.
We can’t do much about the Sheriff’s Department at the moment but we can all do some things to get our City a more informed electorate.
When you read an alarming statement on Nextdoor, Patch or a Facebook group, take a few moments to go to the City’s website and find the agenda item that they are referring to. Read the agenda item yourself. Does the headline on our local versions of the Enquirer match the agenda item? Don’t outsource your credibility to the lowest common denominator.