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Life & Times Transcript
1/1/07 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- He could have stayed in the newsroom, but Los Angeles Times columnist, Steve Lopez, got swept into the desperate world of the homeless. Steve Lopez>> I was walking through downtown Los Angeles and came upon a guy playing a violin who clearly was living out of a shopping cart. Where was this guy schooled that he plays this well? And if he does play this well, then why is he living on the street? Val Zavala>> And then, there's a change in the air along Venice boardwalk and one man is trying to stop commerce from evicting characters. These stories and more next on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> Welcome to this special edition of Life and Times where we take a look at some of the best stories we've done about people, but not just ordinary folks. These individuals are so committed to a cause that you can rightly call them crusaders. We begin with a man whose name is familiar to thousands of southern Californians. Most of us couldn't bear to look Los Angeles's ugly homeless problem in the face and yet that's what Los Angeles Times columnist, Steve Lopez, does day after day. It was his persistent coverage of the homeless problem that has earned him awards and criticism. Toni Guinyard got a tour of Skid Row from Steve Lopez who manages to see what most of us would miss. Toni Guinyard>> Just one visit to Skid Row and you'll walk away with images that stay with you long after you leave. Steve Lopez>> I mean, this is a snapshot of social disintegration at its worst. When you've got people, you know, trying to survive on these streets with, you know, desperate with their illnesses and their fears, you just know that you've got to do better. Toni Guinyard>> Los Angeles Times columnist, Steve Lopez, decided to write about Skid Row and the people he met here in this city within a city. Shannon Murray>> What Skid Row is is approximately fifty square blocks of services, housing and homeless people. Toni Guinyard>> Call it the capital of homelessness and despair. It's an area east of downtown Los Angeles most people don't visit unless they have to. Shannon Murray>> And in this area, there's approximately between seven and nine thousand homeless people at any given point in time, some of them on the streets, some of them in programs and about a third of them in permanent housing in the community. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> Shannon Murray chooses to come here. She's the Deputy Director of LAMP Community, a Skid Row-based nonprofit agency devoted to providing housing and services to homeless people who are mentally ill. Shannon Murray>> The people I work with are what get me through my day every day. We're talking about really the most sick people in our society, for the most part. People that have been in jail, in prison, for years. People that have mental illness, that smoke crack every day. They're amazing people. Yes, once in a while, there are some very frustrating ones. But for the most part, they surprise us and challenge us (laughter) and teach us every day. Toni Guinyard>> The idea that anyone here on Skid Row can surprise and challenge and teach is a tough sell, but it happens. Steve Lopez>> This is a story that, when I first stumbled onto it, I had no idea what the story was or where it would take me. Toni Guinyard>> In column after column after column, Lopez has taken his readers on a tour of Skid Row. His words both shock and shame readers. Steve Lopez>> Look, I write a column. This is not some passive little "here's what I think you might want to consider". It's two-fisted and it's in your face and that was the whole point of the Skid Row series. Guess what? This is the city you live in. Enjoy your breakfast, but you're going to have to, you know, get this down along with your eggs and your bacon because this is where you live and this is who you are. Toni Guinyard>> The lesson Lopez learned about Skid Row started with one man, a homeless musician. Steve Lopez>> Nathaniel is his name. Nathaniel Anthony Ayres. This all begins a little over a year ago when I was walking through downtown Los Angeles and came upon a guy playing a violin who clearly was living out of a shopping cart. You know, it's a pretty striking picture. It's like where was this guy schooled that he plays this well? And if he does play this well, then why is he living on the street? Toni Guinyard>> It's a question Lopez needed to answer, so he kept coming back to that man and learning bits and pieces about him with each visit. It seemed unreal. Nathaniel was Julliard educated, but schizophrenic and living on the streets for thirty-five years. Steve Lopez>> People like to think that you've made a moral choice to live on the streets chasing rats away with a stick and it's not a moral choice. It's a result of whatever predicament you're in, whether you've got some form of addiction, whether you've got a mental health issue. So people like Nathaniel have just been left to these streets. Toni Guinyard>> Over time, Nathaniel became more than just the subject of a newspaper story, more than another soul on Skid Row. Nathaniel became a friend. Steve Lopez>> The man has been a gift to me not only because we have a strong friendship, but because he helped me see these worlds that I didn't know much about. Toni Guinyard>> On these streets, Nathaniel introduced Lopez to his world, one of mental illness, homelessness and survival. Lopez in turn introduced his readers to Nathaniel's world. Kita Curry>> I think what Steve has done is take all the readers in Los Angeles and beyond Los Angeles on an odyssey where they've come to understand people that formerly they wouldn't even look at. Toni Guinyard>> Dr. Kita Curry is President and CEO of the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center. So moved by Lopez's Los Angeles Times series on Skid Row, it honored the columnist for his work erasing the stigma of mental illness. It's estimated that a third to a half of the people living here are mentally ill. Kita Curry>> If you're mentally ill and you're on disability, you might be getting eight hundred dollars a month. If you're trying to live in a hotel or a motel and pay your rent every day and then also eat, it's easy to end up homeless. Toni Guinyard>> For every supporter, Lopez has his share of critics who have grown weary of the unwavering attention given to the plight of the homeless in this Skid Row community. Steve Lopez>> Yeah, you get criticism all the time. What do you want us to do? Who are you? Can't you write about anything else? Toni Guinyard>> But Lopez continues writing about Skid Row, the residents, the homeless, development, police, prostitution, mental illness, violence and housing. At times, the attention has become overwhelming. Shannon Murray>> Meaning like I think there's maybe more kind of like lookie-lous and more people wanting to do stories, but kind of on their terms. So it feels a little bit invasive, I think, to the community in a lot of ways. Toni Guinyard>> The challenge is finding a way to use all of this attention to help the people living here and point out what you have to look a little closer to see, the personal victories. Chaylone Hill>> "How you doing? You doing all right today?" Toni Guinyard>> Chaylone Hill would like nothing more than have people understand how quickly life can change when you suffer from a mental illness. Chaylone Hill>> And I was married and I have children. I left to go get some bread one day and I never came back. Toni Guinyard>> She ended up on Skid Row. Chaylone Hill>> I was scared to get well. Like my voices. I was used to my voices. They kept me company. I was never lonely. Then I found out that the voices weren't natural and I had to get that under control. Now I talk to people. Toni Guinyard>> When she was offered therapy and medical help, she took it. When she was offered a job at LAMP Community, she took that too. Chaylone Hill>> Today when I walk out, I have a destination. I know where I'm going today. Shannon Murray>> Our clients, which we call members here, are amazing individuals and have been through, a lot of them, more pain and trauma than any of us could ever imagine and they're true survivors. Toni Guinyard>> Murray will tell you the key to survival is housing. Murray>> "There's four guys in this cubicle. Up front, we got cubicles where the women are." Shannon Murray>> What is proven to work with most people, even severely mentally ill people, you know, people that have been homeless for years, is moving them from the streets or in an emergency situation straight into an apartment, a permanent supportive housing unit. Toni Guinyard>> This is one of them, the St. George Hotel. Michael Alvidrez>> There are a total of eighty-six tenants that live in the building. They all pay rent. They all have a lease. They all prepare their own meals. So this provides them an opportunity to become stabilized. Coming from the streets gives them an opportunity to sort of re-socialize into a larger community that's been lost on the streets. Toni Guinyard>> Homeless advocates say that, if the situation on Skid Row is going to change, the homeless must be given a chance to get off the streets. Kita Curry>> I think it's criminal to sweep people up like garbage and that's what we're doing here even on Skid Row. Steve Lopez>> This is a measure of who we are. It's not something in Brentwood. It's not something high on a hill. This is it right here. This is California. This is Los Angeles. Welcome to it. How do you feel about it? Toni Guinyard>> That's one question Lopez will continue asking. I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> Nathaniel, the musician that Steve Lopez followed for so long, is now off the streets and staying at an apartment most of the time. He's on the verge of getting treatment and there are plans to build a studio where he can practice his music and teach. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> The fun and funky characters we've come to expect along Venice Beach are under pressure to conform. There's a feud brewing between unregulated vendors and more conventional businesses. But what is this feud about and does it spell an end to the wacky Venice Beach we all enjoy? Hena Cuevas takes a closer look at this culture clash. Hena Cuevas>> It's Los Angeles's second most popular tourist attraction after Disneyland: Venice Beach. [Film Clip] Hena Cuevas>> Every year, thousands of people visit its famous boardwalk filled with funky performers and unusual wares. Even these unconventional canals built more than a hundred years ago gave Venice its name and its reputation for the unusual. But the carnival-like atmosphere that made it so famous around the world is slowly changing and performers like Dave Elliott, or "Zuma Dogg" as he prefers to be called, don't like it. Dave "Zuma Dogg" Elliott>> They want to turn Venice Beach into Manhattan Beach. They want to turn it into Third Street Promenade. They want to raise the property values and that's all well and good, but there's that little thorn in their side called the First Amendment. Hena Cuevas>> For years, Venice has tried to regulate the large numbers of vendors and performers on the boardwalk with mixed results. Residents who wanted more control were frustrated. Linda Lucks>> This is a beach. This is a public park. It has to be fine for all the people. Hena Cuevas>> Linda Lucks is a member of the Venice Neighborhood Council. She's lived in the area for more than thirty years. She says attempts to limit what was sold, preached and performed were challenged in court. Many past ordinances were struck down as unconstitutional. Linda Lucks>> As of last summer, there were no regulations and the police just threw up their hands and said, you know, we don't have any operating instructions, so it pretty much was a catch-all and it was out of control. Everyone agreed that it was out of control. Hena Cuevas>> Too many vendors were pouring in. Linda Lucks>> There were people coming from all over the city selling things on the beach side of the boardwalk, which is public park. They were buying things downtown and selling them here. They were selling clothing. They were selling furniture, I mean, everything. There was no order whatsoever and no one was happy with that. Hena Cuevas>> Especially merchants like Steve Heumann who runs Sidewalk Enterprises. He says the businesses he manages were having a difficult time competing with the growing numbers of street vendors. Steve Heumann>> There are certainly people who want to be able to sell what they want to sell out there and they want to be able to have a store on public property, pay no rent, compete with people across the way on private property. Hena Cuevas>> Also, there were so many vendors that artists were pushed out of the available spaces. So on March 25, a new ordinance went into effect. It basically limits sales to just art. Anything handmade is acceptable. Anything commercially or mass-produced is banned. Steve Heumann>> They have largely gotten rid of the unfair competition, the people that go buy products and come out here and try to sell them. Yeah, it's drastically reduced and, from my perspective, a hundred percent better. Hena Cuevas>> But along the way, it has also limited what some performers can sell. For example, rapper "Zuma Dogg" can't sell his trademark t-shirts anymore. Dave "Zuma Dogg" Elliott>> To try to appease the stores on the other side who are paying the taxes, which is perfectly understandable, they're trying to get all the commercial merchandise off the beach. Now unfortunately, that sweeps up a whole bunch of people protected under the Constitution of the First Amendment under the rug along with it. Hena Cuevas>> So he's taken the cause to City Hall. >> "Our next speaker is "Zuma Dogg". Dave "Zuma Dogg" Elliott>> "I'm Zuma Dogg. We're going to break it down. Everybody pay attention right here. I got an important announcement. First of all, if you want to find out the problems happening at Venice Beach with illegal, unconstitutional police activity, tune in to Comcast. . ." Hena Cuevas>> He's a performer and treats City Hall like a stage. His crazy rants even got the Los Angeles Times to cover the story and he knows his antics are a way to bring attention to the problem. Dave "Zuma Dogg" Elliott>> If you go to the City Council and you talk into the microphone with a bunch of boring legalese in a monotone quiet voice, nobody's going to pay attention. They're going to continue to sip on their coffee and look on their computers and not pay attention until your two minutes are up. But when Zuma Dogg comes up with the heat -- [Film Clip] >> "Thank you. Time is up, Mr. Dogg." Hena Cuevas>> How much of an impact he's having is still to be seen, but Lucks says Zuma Dogg is in the minority and most support the new law. Linda Lucks>> I think this is the best we've done so far. I've seen less opposition. More vocal, but many fewer people are complaining than have in the past. Hena Cuevas>> A lot of the complaints, however, are coming from another area and has to do with how spaces along the boardwalk are allotted. [Film Clip] Hena Cuevas>> Every Tuesday at 8:30 in the morning, vendors wait to hear their names called and find out what space they'll have for the week. [Film Clip] Hena Cuevas>> Victor Jauregui works for Los Angeles Parks and Recreation. He says the lottery was established a year and a half ago as a form of control. Victor Jauregui>> There was some infighting among each other as well and then you had other individuals that would take large portions of the boardwalk and just kind of hog them up and not want to share with one another. So there's a lot of problems out there. Hena Cuevas>> Enforcement is up to the LAPD. Hayden>> And when I set up, I just keep everything inside the line because you can be ticketed for that too. Hena Cuevas>> Hayden, who didn't want to use his last name, is an acrylic painter. He says the police make doing business a lot tougher. Hayden>> There's been a lot of police harassment of artists, ticketing for really, really minor things, things that they could just give a warning to and people would comply. Like I was here like 8:30 in the morning. My car was completely packed up and they still gave me a ticket. Hena Cuevas>> For what? Hayden>> For being in the space before nine o'clock. Hena Cuevas>> And the performers are also aware of the consequences of going outside their limits. >> "Excuse me. If Park and Recreation come by, they're going to give me a ticket for the grass. Come this way. Come in some more." Victor Jauregui>> Our budget has gone up obviously almost double from what we normally would do on a daily basis due to the lottery. We have to keep individuals, personnel, on work duty until about six or seven in the evening to ensure that people out on the boardwalk are following the rules. Hena Cuevas>> So is this a case of Venice Beach tightening its rules so much that it may lose some of its traditional flavor? Dave "Zuma Dogg" Elliott>> It does take a lot of the luster off. You know, you don't have the bands, you don't have the music. They're enforcing the sound ordinances way too strictly. You know, you don't have the nice artistic displays that people used to make. It has lost a lot of the funky flavor. It really has. Linda Lucks>> No one has any intention of stifling creativity, stifling the performers, stopping any of what makes Venice, Venice. It's a question of monitoring and being able to regulate per the Constitution time, manner and location. Dave "Zuma Dogg" Elliott>> "Here's Zuma Dogg, y'all. Welcome to Venice Beach. We got a free concert right now. . ." Hena Cuevas>> Why not go somewhere else to sell your stuff? Dave "Zuma Dogg" Elliott>> This is the place, that's why. I mean, tell me where else I can go where there's half a million people coming by on the weekends where you can just set up on the sidewalk because the federal government says you're allowed to. Where else is that? I'll be the first one to go there, y'all. Hena Cuevas>> It's precisely this anything-goes quality that has made Venice Beach so popular. Now merchants, residents and artists alike are trying to save that spirit each in their own way. [Film Clip] Hena Cuevas>> I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> She's in charge of the most powerful labor organization in southern California, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, with more than eight hundred thousand members. Her name is Maria Elena Durazo and she's taking over after her late husband, Miguel Contreras. She's feisty, dramatic and tough and many business people are not looking forward to facing off against Durazo. More than three hundred fifty unions belong to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor from the public and private sectors. Everyone from janitors to Hollywood cameramen, from firefighters and police to hotel workers. Durazo is new to the job, so we thought we'd ask her what her vision is for southern California workers. Maria Elena Durazo>> I think the most important thing is that we working men and women, regardless of whether they're in the middle class bracket or low wage and the working poor, have one dream in common and that is to be able to live a life in which they raise their children, they have health insurance, they have a pension plan so they could retire with dignity and that they have a voice on the job, that there aren't abuses of their work and workload and things like that. So we have all of that in common. Whereas there might be different jobs from a firefighter to a dishwasher, we all have the same passion. Val Zavala>> Now you have a reputation for being quite feisty and combative. You have fasted, you have called the situation in Los Angeles, the labor situation, the have and have-not situation, like apartheid. The business people are not eager to see you take this very influential position. Maria Elena Durazo>> Well, I have worked with business people the entire time that I worked also as a union organizer and as a union president because workers need for the businesses in the private sector or for the government in the public sector to be successful. We cannot get what is fair if they are not successful. You hear about the times when there are certain employers on those rare occasions where they absolutely refuse to do and provide the most basic and fundamental needs of those workers. That's when, of course, we have to then respond and fight for those workers. I want to say that the overwhelming majority of the times, we have relationships with employers who understand that, whether it is they want to avoid the fight or because they really do believe in providing a good standard of living. Val Zavala>> Now union numbers have been shrinking nationally over the past couple of decades and yet you see unions as the key to reviving the middle class in America. But some people would say, you know, the globalization and so forth is a mega trend against that. Maria Elena Durazo>> I believe that the only way that workers in this country and, frankly, any country could get their fair share is when they're organized and we're up against -- you're right -- these global corporations that are making decisions that affect workers not only in the United States, but throughout the world. What better way to take on these global corporations and what only way is there, if not the organization of workers to say that we're going to stick together. For example, in the union that I've come out of, the hotel and restaurant workers, we have a National North America Hotel Workers' campaign because, if workers in one city don't unite with workers in another city, there's no way that we could get our point across to the Hiltons and the Starwood, global hotel operators, so I have a very strong belief in that. My parents came to this country from Mexico. They worked very hard in the fields and, if it hadn't been for a movement of farm workers led by Cesar Chavez, it would have been that much more difficult and they would have suffered that much more. Val Zavala>> How did you get to where you are now? Maria Elena Durazo>> I worked in the fields up and down California and Oregon until I was in high school. My dad, you know, really, really taught us a work ethic. My mom is the one who taught us to fight for ourselves. He truly believed that, if you work hard, that you'll be rewarded, that you'll be able to raise your children and your family. My mom had a more realistic side to her, which was that, yes, you'll be rewarded, but there are times when you won't, so you've got to get in there and fight for what's fair. Val Zavala>> How did you get to law school? Maria Elena Durazo>> Well, I was working full-time and this was at night. This was for four years. I took classes at night until I was able to graduate, but my heart and my soul was in what can be done for working people. I saw my father and mother. To this day, they're old and they're very ill and they could never buy a house of their own. They could never afford to do that. Val Zavala>> They never owned their own home? Maria Elena Durazo>> They never owned their own home. They didn't own their own home because, even though they worked from, you know, sunrise to sunset, they worked hard in the fields, they worked in the canneries, they worked as janitors, my father did. Yet they could never buy a home for themselves. When I went away to college -- I was number seven in the family, but the first one to get a college degree -- my father tried to apologize to me and said to me, you know, "I'm really sorry that I couldn't pay for your education and that you have to take loans and you have to apply for scholarships. That would have been my preference." I thought to myself, "Why is he apologizing to me?" He worked so hard and he gave everything, his sweat, to this country. He has no reason to apologize. No one should apologize if they work really hard. I believe in that and I think the majority of people in this country believe in that. Also, you know, a nonviolent movement of people is what really makes change in this country. You could point back and you say the women's movement, the African American civil rights movement, the environmentalists. A nonviolent, but strong mobilization and also exercising our rights. Cesar taught us to exercise our right to vote and we need to be involved in the political and civic process of this country. I will do everything I can to carry out those kinds of values and ways of winning. Val Zavala>> Maria Elena Durazo, congratulations again. You've got a big job ahead of you. Best of luck. Maria Elena Durazo>> Thank you. I appreciate it. Val Zavala>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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