MAYOR GARCETTI CALLS FOR MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN VENICE (PHOTOS)

Mayor Garcetti & Councilman Bonin "walk the walk" - deliver on their campaign promises to make city government more accessible and responsive.

     While most politicians are content to "talk the talk", newly elected L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and west-side City Councilman Mike Bonin (see fotos) demonstrated once again last Saturday that they are ready to "walk the walk" - literally.
     They hosted a mid-day community barbecue and - along with staff-volunteers and a large turn-out of Venice residents - they walked the streets, knocking on doors to ask citizens what issues and problems were on their minds.
      The number one answer? According to Garcetti, the biggest concern voiced by the people he talked with was "affordability". They fear the rising price of home rental and ownership, as well as the trend towards rapidly rising prices for goods and services in our traditionally mixed-income community.
     "They are afraid that they are being 'priced' out of Venice" Garcetti told crowd at the rally after the neighborhood walk. "I'm not sure how much can be done in the short-term to make low-income home-ownership more available, but we can definitely look into ways to support the effort to provide more affordable rental-units."
     While not making any specific promises, Garcetti and Bonin have both signaled their sympathy with the affordable-housing issue in Venice, and their willingness to throw their political weight behind solutions.
     This is good news for Venice.