The Light Of Venice

We were recently shooting down on the Boardwalk for our documentary, 90291: VENICE UNZIPPED, when I finally really got down and looked at the wonderful tiles embedded in the benches all along Ocean Front Walk. Each depicts a classic time and place in Venice, and show what has always made our Community special and unique.

I know many of us feel that is all being threatened these days on several fronts, and that we often feel helpless to create positive change and reject the negative ... but we're not. We all have a voice, and you can exercise yours this weekend during the Venice Neighborhood Council elections by showing up to vote for the people that deeply care about the spirit of Venice, and wish to preserve it - not merely profit from it.

I can't be there for everything happening in Venice this weekend, as I'm in Minnesota taking care of things for my ailing Mother, so I extra get that feeling of helplessness ... but I can at least tell you what I think. There have been nefarious forces at work for some time on both the VNC and the Venice Chamber of Commerce, and I really think it's time to clean house in both of those organizations. You may recall the stories about the Chamber not letting Venice Pride use the Venice Sign for the annual sign lighting and party over strictly personal beefs and shady accounting. Well, now they've gone ahead and lit the sign rainbow ahead of Pride - not allowing them to have the countdown or anything - and the "scheduled maintenance" they said they were doing on the sign for the month of June appears to be another lie. Venice Pride had to go ahead and order their own sign as a backup plan, so now there will be a double rainbow during tomorrow's Pride celebration! Pride will never go down without the FUN.

The Chamber also scheduled their "Flower Fest" for the exact same day as Pride, and got the Art Crawl to join them. The Chamber/Flower Fest situation is what started all of the issues with Venice Pride, as the Chamber didn't have enough money in their budget to make it happen last year, so resorted to ever shadier tactics (which they wrongly accused Venice Pride of, hypocritically - and there's plenty of documentation to prove it) to throw the event - that pretty much no one attended. I don't have time to get into all of it here and now, as I'm dealing with pressing family things here, but I will tell you that you can trust me on the fact that I wouldn't cast a single vote for anyone who endorses the Venice Chamber hijinks. Or anyone that values property value or development over Community, creativity, and empathy. Who I WOULD vote for are who the people who share my deep desire to preserve that special light of Venice are voting for:

Community Officer: Jim Robb/Brian Averill
Outreach: Joselyn Williams
Chair of Land Use and Planning Committee: Alix Gucovsky
Vice President: Grant Turck (!!!!!!)
President: Ira Koslow

There are more categories to vote for, and I don't have time to get all the way into it now ... but for those I would definitely err on the side of the longer they have lived in Venice, the more chance they get my vote. Because they simply care more and GET IT more. There is a an all day (10-6) BBQ on Sunday at 1301 Main Street hosted by Robb, Averill, and Gucovsky that you can hit up before or after you vote - or both. Get to know the people that love and care about Venice and want to be stewards of what our late great poet, Philomene Long called "the light of Venice" ...

That the light of Venice

not be extinguished

Nor diminished

nor simply maintained.

But that that light burn, burn, burn

into a boundless luminosity!  

I look forward to hearing that the right people were elected, and that Pride was the best ever this year! Cheers, fun, and LOVE to all Venetians!!! 

*And do check out the marvelous benches, as well as the book about them - Art Tiles At Venice Beach!

Petty About Pride

The fight between Venice Pride and the Venice Chamber of Commerce is so petty I can barely stand to talk about it, but here we are. The Chamber responded to what they say are false accusations with an overly wordy and evasive letter on their website that is essentially a smear piece directed at Venice Pride Board President, Grant Turck.

I know Turck, and I know how tirelessly hard he works to put on a joyous celebration for not only the LBGTQ members of our community, but for everyone. He has stood up to bullies since he was a kid in the Midwest starting his own Gay club at high school, the first of its kind. There are very clearly personal problems on both sides, but I can't stand bullying, and this whole situation feels an awful lot like just exactly that.

This all started when Turck asked for some accountability when going over Pride invoices and finding that there were some big discrepancies. He merely asked about them, and was immediately met with vitriol and the threat of canceling the Pride sign lighting, way back in July of 2018. Essentially, we don't like how you're playing, so we're gonna take our sign and go home (though it is not theirs, they are merely the custodians). This is all documented - but not at all addressed in the response from the Chamber, nor was it addressed why they would choose June - exactly when they know Pride to be - for the sign to be taken down for maintenance. Why not take it down NOW (the O'Venice is already past its freshness date, and needs to be taken down anyway) so it can be ready for the Summer tourists, and Pride? In the Chamber's attempt to punish Turck, they are in effect leveling their judgement at the entire community.

Turck's response to this personal attack was the following:

"Venice Pride always paid the Venice Chamber as agreed. In 2018, the Chamber opted to pay Venice Pride $3,500 via a member of their executive committee as part of a larger sum to settle accounting errors allegedly made by Chamber leadership involving equipment billed to Venice Pride but used at a June 8 Chamber event called Flower Fest."

So ... you know what would clear all of this up? A transparent and complete audit of both Venice Pride's event and the VCC's event for everyone to see. Turck is up for that, but with the avoidance of the topic shown in the Chamber's response ... I'm not so sure they are. I say let the community decide, as that is who both of these entities purport to serve.

I have no real dog in this fight. I'm not gay, and I'm not a member of the Venice Chamber of Commerce. I don't even really want to be involved, but I do think my Venice community should be aware of what's going on .... and I'm always going to stand up against bullying. When you break it down, it's Pride versus Commerce - and the names kind of say it all.

The Venice Pride celebration (with DJ Victor Rodriguez returning!) is happening on June 1st, with or without the lighting of the Venice Sign ...  and I hope that all parties involved can put this pettiness behind them and move forward - and that there will be a fun story to write about it! I'm out.

Venice Chamber Of Commerce Pulls The Plug On Venice Pride Sign Lighting

OK, Venice. There's a little drama going on with the upcoming Venice Pride celebration planned for this June 1st. Venice Pride received a letter from the Venice Chamber of Commerce on February 22, effectively kicking Venice Pride out of the Chamber, and going even further to say, "Be informed that the Venice Sign will be taken down for unrelated maintenance during the month of June 2019 and will be unavailable in connection with any events scheduled for that month."

Excuse me? The Venice Sign has never been taken down in its decade plus history, and they're going to choose to do maintenance on it now, when Venice Pride is always in June?! The Pride lighting is already scheduled for June 1st, so they could just take it down the next day if need be. It's already on the Sign's own list of events when you do a Google search about it.

I was told that the wind and everything has made it so they need to check that the hardware securing the sign is secure and safe, but again, just take it down the next day. WHAT is really going on?

For that, you have to dig a little deeper. When Venice Pride was going over invoices to plan this year's celebration, they found some discrepancies with last year's vendors, and wanted to make sure they had a correct and adequate budget to plan for this year. When inquiring with one of the rental companies about the overcharges (several) and the disappearance of the discount that they'd been given on the original quote, Venice Pride was told that the Venice Chamber had told the vendor to apply the discount to the following week's Flower Fest instead. A totally different event with a different budget that has nothing to do with Venice Pride - but it was a Venice Chamber event. And now Flower Fest is tentatively planned for June 1st. Hmm ...

The matter had to be handled in small claims court, and there were disgruntled parties on both sides (though Pride was just trying to get back what was rightfully theirs). The next thing you know, this letter shows up (and was attached to an open letter to the Chamber, which is how I saw it) from the attorney for the Venice Chamber of Commerce, Michael Wallerstein, a member of the Chamber. The letter demands that Venice Pride cease and desist using any images of the Venice Sign in their promotion or merchandising, that their membership had been revoked, so they can no longer be a part of the Chamber, and they can't use the sign for the celebration. Wow. That feels petty retaliatory to me ... especially when they ignored California Corporation code, providing no reason for the drastic move, and no opportunity to be heard in a response before being so unceremoniusly booted from the Chamber - AND denied use of the Sign that is the centerpiece of the Venice Pride celebration. Over what exactly?

The Venice Sign hosts several celebrations throughout the year, but none of the others are for a group of people that has been so oppressed historically. This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, which is a major event in gay history. Gay Pride has grown so much over the years, and now Venice - of all places! - is going to have their own Chamber of Commerce deny the use of the sign (that they don't own, but are merely the custodians of) for this joyful annual event that the entire community enjoys? Again, WOW. I get that there are personal beefs between some parties involved, but you don't punish a whole community. It's just not right.

The Venice Pride celebration will take place on June 1st with or without the use of the Venice Sign, but it will be an awfully glaring omission to not have the rainbow sign hanging there above it - and I'd like to hear the Venice Chamber explain to everyone in attendance just exactly WHY, and why THEN? I don't think this community will stand for it. Or shouldn't. There is a backup portable Venice Sign standing by to take the place of the real Venice Sign, at a large expense for a non-profit organization's budget (which is how we got here in the first place), but the show must go on! I'd hope that the Venice Chamber of Commerce will realize the error of their ways before June 1st, because again, just how are they going to explain away this slap in the face to Venice's LBGTQ community if people show up to dance under the original sign that isn't there?

In these times, we need to support and encourage each other as a community, not get all petty over some creative accounting that was discovered and civilly asked to remedy ... and then this. I would hope that we can all be friends and grown ups here, and I hope everyone can move forward, doing their best to do the right thing for Venice - by including and celebrating everyone! That is how ALL of Venice can be proud.

The Holiday Kick-Off In Venice - In The Spirit!

What a fun weekend in Venice! The annual Venice sign lighting happened on Saturday night, and it seemed like the whole community came out to celebrate with each other. Everyone was in high spirits, and there were more than a few Santa hats being worn, so people were ready to bring in the Christmas season for sure.

Live music was playing and you could hear it in the wind as we strolled over to Windward for the festivities. I stopped off for a quick cup of glögg (inspiring!) at my friends' Russ and Harry's pad on the way, and it gave you that happy, warm feeling inside to take with you. This year there was the new addition of a big Ferris wheel there to greet the people, and it was cool to see everyone loving it.

We were also there shooting the happy times for our documentary 90291: VENICE UNZIPPED, as with all of the problems and actual crises happening in our community, there is also always a lot of fun to be had. That's a big reason why so many of us wanted to live here to begin with, and this kind of absolute blast also needs to be captured to tell the complete story. People were in great moods, feeling in love with Venice all over again, and thus, they were excellent interviewees. Thank you!

Windward was lined with booths handing out everything from chili (Surfside friends!) to sticky rice, ice cream to hot chocolate, and all if it was complimentary as a gift to everyone. It was great.

The streets were packed with holiday revelers, and you couldn't walk two feet without running into someone you knew and loved. The Venice Chamber of Commerce put on a good party, and pretty much the whole town contributed to the fun. Venice Paparazzi was there with an adorable Venice holiday photo booth that had long lines waiting for their turn all night.

The walls around the still uninhabited old post office (Ridiculous. Turn it into a community center!) were decked out with posters from the contest for local kids to partake in, and I particularly liked this little Venice Santa.

The "real" Venice Santa was cruising around getting hot chocolate and getting everyone to come and sit on his lap. It's probably pretty fun to be Santa.

Bands played (though I didn't know any of them - who books this thing?) and people danced in the streets. Partiers would wait for the lights to change in the Pacific/Windward crosswalk in front of the Venice sign, and as soon as it would change, everyone would run out into the middle and dance or rollerskate or convulse (one person's iffy dance moves) real hard until the light changed and then run back behind the barricades. THAT is the Venice spirit I love so much.

Andy Summers of The Police lives in Venice, I guess, so he was chosen for the sign lighting duties. As usual, the various speeches went on way too long, and the sign that was supposed to be lit at 8:00 p.m. was still dark at 8:30. Local politicians and people on boards - no one cares to listen to you hearing yourself talk. It was to the point that a chant started up ... "LIGHT THE SIGN! LIGHT THE SIGN!" because frankly, no one was listening to the speeches anyway. Dancing and greeting friends continued until finally you could hear the 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1!!! - and the sign lit up in its holiday outfit of red and green! It's funny that light bulbs can bring such a thrill, but there we all were, loving it.

Everyone raced to  the intersection to take photos under the newly lit sign, and we were no different. Old friends and new took photos together, and it was the perfect way to kick off the holiday season with good Christmas cheer and good Venice vibes.

The party moved on to various watering holes around the area, and Surfside was serving up a special holiday bourbon punch that was our main draw. I took off in my new Venice sign red stocking hat to meet up with friends at Cinema Bar to see Matt Ellis play, and people wanted one (Get yours through the Venice Chamber!). It was a truly joyous time in Venice, and all seemed to be in the mood to celebrate, and take our minds off of all of the heavy things happening in the world. Thank goodness - we needed it.

I hope you were there, I hope you also had a blast, and I hope this will be everyone's best holiday season yet ... and that we'll all do our best to make it so. For everyone.

Fa la la la la, la la la la!

Carol Tantau is Just Tantau ... And So Much More.

March 8 is International Women's Day, so I'd like to have March stories be for the ladies, and the gentlemen who love them. There is probably no one better to speak to about women and Venice than Carol Tantau. Not only has she owned and operated her shop, Just Tantau, on Abbot Kinney since 1982, but she also operates the advocacy program at Sojourn Services for Battered Women and their children in Santa Monica.

We sat down to talk in the back of Tantau's shop, as her cats, Ricky and Lucy, cruised around and walked over her bare feet, all totally at home. Tantau grew up in Northern California, and headed to Venice in 1971, like so many who found their way here, "because it seemed like a good idea."  She had her BA in music, (there is a grand piano in the middle of the shop) and was making her living as a seamstress, which led to a stint teaching quilting classes. Again, like so many who not only found their way, but MADE their way here, she often stumbled into her situations quite by accident. Like when she met her husband, Leon, who was making jewelry on the Boardwalk when she happened upon him.

They married and lived in a little one room pad on the beach, where the jewelry manufacturing soon outgrew their place, and needed to find a space for a work shop and storefront. In 1982 there wasn't much happening on West Washington Boulevard (which you now know as Abbot Kinney) other than The Merchant Of Venice (open only for breakfast and lunch) and The Comeback Inn. That meant that they could afford the space they found at 1353, where Just Tantau still operates right now. They could afford it because then the idea was that rent was based on "fair market value" - meaning a rent that enables a business to survive. Ahhh, the good old days ...

Anyway, Carol and Leon made and sold their jewelry in the shop, never adding t-shirts and sunglasses to cater to any tourists that might have happened by, because "Why would you want to be the same as everyone else?" Another point that might be well taken today, People.

They attended trade shows all over the place and began to wholesale their wares, and began buying from other jewelry sellers to bring to their shop back home. The business grew and grew. Busy as they were, when The Merchant of Venice closed at three in the afternoon, that meant the work day was pretty well done for everyone, and they'd wrap up and enjoy the rest of Venice. They were good times. (Ok, and it was not a good neighborhood at all back then, so it may have had a little to do with safety too, as they slid the metal gates closed at 3 to be closed by dark. But still.)

Years of travel and trade shows went by smoothly, but then the manufacturing business started to tank, and so did the marriage with Leon. In 2001, they split the business and the marriage, with Carol keeping the retail store, and Leon taking over the wholesale. They remain friends today, and Just Tantau remains a crucial, ORIGINAL store on Abbot Kinney. I send people there all the time to get unique gifts like necklaces made out of old typewriter key letters, or Tantau's latest pieces made out of watch and clock parts. Timeless.

Not having to travel so much anymore, Tantau began to get more and more involved with the Venice community. She was the head of the West Washington Merchant's Association (and was instrumental in getting the street's name changed to Abbot Kinney, as well as getting the palm trees planted up and down the boulevard) and then became President of the Chamber Of Commerce.

That led to involvement in the Community Police Advisory Board, and after the O.J. Simpson verdict in 1995, it was made clear that there really was no domestic violence bridge to the LAPD. Sojourn Services (the second oldest shelter in the state) created an Emergency Response team to respond to domestic violence calls, and soon Tantau found herself not only training and becoming a volunteer, but suddenly in charge of the program! Once you know her, this is not at all surprising. As she said about herself, "I have the personality for  it." She now manages 35 volunteers, support groups, a legal clinic, court accompaniments, and acts as an advocate/liaison to the LAPD, where she recently began teaching about domestic violence at the Police Academy. Women, Carol Tantau has your back.

Tantau is able to do all of this important advocacy work, on top of being a small business owner on Abbot Kinney, which is a luxury she attributes to her "wonderful employees." They enable her to have the best of both worlds, and keep her perspective fresh for both. Obviously, Tantau has seen her share of change in Venice, as she has lived and worked on Abbot Kinney for over 30 years. The thing that keeps her here and that she loves the most is the diversity - endangered though it may be.

"I am in Venice by choice. This is my chosen home, I wasn't born here. There is a depth that ties me to this place ..." We share this feeling, and acknowledged the changes around here now. First Fridays and the food trucks have scared off a lot of old school regulars and neighbors from the shops because it's such a hassle, and not that fun when you don't see anyone you know anymore.

But as we were talking, Tantau made a great point. "We are still here. Real, true Venetians can still take ownership, but not if they're not here. Don't forget US." Yeah. C'mon, Venice! We can hole up and avoid the masses on Abbot Kinney, or go out there and take it back. Show THEM what Venice is about. Have OUR fun. Be nice, but don't kiss ass. Don't be all about the money, but about the sense of place. I remember hanging out once with Bunny at The Green House, and someone came in and asked if it was ok to bring in their dog. Bunny replied, "Of course, this is VENICE." Somewhere different. Somewhere special. Somewhere not like everywhere else. Somewhere with a strong history of that diversity, and somewhere that has always had our sense of fun.

Carol Tantau has so many stories of Venice through the decades, she really needs to write a book. But she's awfully busy, so take the opportunity to stop in to Just Tantau and hear some tales for yourself. Be a regular again. Be a neighbor. Share your stories. Take ownership of YOUR chosen home.