Screenshot of Councilmember Mike Bonin on the Council floor

Screenshot of Councilmember Mike Bonin on the Council floor

WESTCHESTER -Some Westchester residents say Council Member Mike Bonin's continued irresponsible actions with no regard to the effect on their community have led them to file ethics complaints against the council member. 

 Debra Huston, Lisa Gaines and Tim Campbell filed a complaint with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, a board established by Los Angeles voters in 1990 to help preserve the public trust and foster public confidence in city government and elections. The board is required by law to administer City and state laws related to governmental ethics. We reached out to the Ethics Commission to learn more about the process of their filing but did not hear back in time for this report. 

"Mr. Bonin is an elected official and should be representing constituents without letting his bias control decision-making that affects us," stated Huston in her complaint.  

In early September, the Westchester community was surprised when they were told by a representative from Bonin's office that the council member has plans and is working with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to use the entire parking lot adjacent to the Westchester ballfields and the recreation pool at Westchester Park for 24-hour Safe Parking.

"Members of our community have written hundreds of emails, made hundreds of calls, and have gone to his office to get information about Mr. Bonin's plans for Safe Parking in the park. Instead, we have been met with a wall of silence and no responses at all. Mr. Bonin has failed to provide information to our Neighborhood Council as well."

Last August, the City Administrators' Office CAO stated the park was infeasible for homeless housing. The findings were part of a feasibility study requested by Bonin, of putting up temporary homeless housing at several westside parks and beaches.  

As a follow-up report–the CAO stated Westchester should not be used as a place to house the homeless because- of its "varied and robust recreational usage."  

That was last August; now, Bonin is bypassing what the City found–and turning to the county for funding and to help launch the safe parking program.

Huston said, "Mr. Bonin believes people who are homeless should be allowed to live in public spaces, and he will stop at nothing to make that happen."

In her complaint, Huston states that Bonin has wholly disregarded the community's health and safety by promising appropriate control and regulation of shelters but refusing to implement those promises. "As an example, we cite the conditions in and around the Venice Bridge Home, and the current conditions at Westchester Park's community center parking lot, which serves the senior center, the city library, and the rest of the park."

Violent crime around the bridge home jumped 88 percent after opening its doors. Just last week, two homeless individuals staying in a tent adjacent to the ABH were shot.  

Huston noted that the safe parking program is a long list of matters Bonin has tried to push through with no community involvement. 

In June, the community was surprised when Bonin put up a chain-link fence with barbed wire around parts of his Westchester office, which shares a parking lot with the Westchester Senior Center, Westchester Loyola Branch Library and is adjacent to the proposed safe sleep parking lot. 

"This would be the equivalent of homeowners putting bars on their homes," stated Paula Gerez, president of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa (NCWP) at the time. 

"What is frustrating about this is the community is very opposed to the chain-link fence," said Gerez. "When you see the barbed wire, there's an element of welcoming to a certain kind of activity."

Gerez stated the community first learned about the fencing last spring but said they were assured the community would have input. "We asked; I hope you'll get the community's feedback. [Bonin's Westchester Deputy stated] Oh yes, you know, it's just in the beginning process. We are nowhere close, but when we are–we will bring you in."

However, public records show that communications about the fencing started in early January. In addition, documents obtained by Huston provided price estimates for the fencing and swing gates in January. The estimates range from $450,000–up to $738,631 for the fences.

Last March, The NCWP held an emergency meeting to discuss the purchase of two hotels for project Home Key. A sale they said they learned about from a social media post by Bonin.   

"We learned about the hotel sales the same time everyone else did," said Gerez. "There's usually a process that takes place including going through our council."  

The purchase was the fourth acquisition of hotels in the council district (to residents' knowledge) without community involvement. The Super 8 Motel located at 9250 Airport Boulevard and the Ramada Inn located on Washington Boulevard in Venice were purchased last year without public awareness or community involvement. 

During the March meeting, Traci Park, a candidate for Council District 11, called in to offer support to the community. Park stated that she lives near the Ramada Inn Homeless Shelter. "I'm familiar with what is taking place because the Council office did not engage with members of our community or the Venice Neighborhood Council when purchasing the Ramada," stated Park.  

Park led the appeal charge on the Ramada after it was approved. “It's not an objection to shelters we have--it's the City's failure to take care of what takes place within them that concerns us.”

Although Huston says the latest fight by their community is Safe Sleep, she's asking the city to step in and find a way to make Westchester and other parts of CD11 a part of these critical decisions and processes. 

"The fundamental part of our legal system is the concept of due process," added Huston. "It's embedded in our state and federal constitutions. We have a right to participate in the process."

Editor's note: The Westside Current has filed three independent complaints against Bonin with the City Ethics Commission for violations of the California Public Records Act (CPRA). Our first complaint was filed in 2020. We have not heard from anyone at the commission about that complaint or any of the others that we have filed.