Bobby McCue said he often finds homeless people sleeping in the
doorway of his Westwood bookstore, effectively blocking him from
entering.
“This isn’t every day, but it does end up happening
… at least once a week,” said McCue, manager of Mystery
Bookstore.
When he asks them to leave, they usually move down the street to
find shelter, he said, but sometimes they relieve themselves in
front of the store, leaving a mess that he has to clean up.
“If they are not very hygienic, then my whole doorway is
just a total mess,” McCue said. “Some of them are
extremely unkempt.”
While McCue and other Westwood businesspeople may oppose the
presence of the homeless on the Village streets and sidewalks, a
recent ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals limits local
law enforcement’s ability to prevent homeless individuals
from residing in public places.
Edward Jones v. City of Los Angeles determined that the Los
Angeles ordinance that allowed for the arrest of homeless people
for sitting, lying or sleeping in public areas was
unconstitutional.
“It affects my store in that there will be more homeless
that will come and sleep in the doorway,” McCue said.
“It just makes it harder on the merchants is all.”
The ruling has drawn mixed reactions from many businesspeople in
the Village. Some, like McCue, have found that the homeless who
stay near their stores already have a negative impact and the
ruling could increase concerns, while others feel the ruling will
not affect Westwood to a great degree.
Claudia Tatevosyan, manager of Presence Clothing and
Accessories, said she believed the homeless sometimes took
advantage of the neighborhood.
“Here, it is easy for them to find food and money,”
Tatevosyan said. “(The ease of living is) calling homeless to
Westwood.”
Though she said the homeless do not deter many customers, seeing
them in front of the store does make some uncomfortable, and the
court ruling could make the problem worse.
“I feel poor for them, (but) … this is a tourist area
and people like to walk around town, and (the homeless who loiter
are) not good for the city,” Tatevosyan said.
Other owners and managers did not feel that the decision would
greatly impact the area.
Though the homeless in Westwood have not made an impact on her
business, Monica’s on Broxton manager Lindsey Hassen said she
thought the homeless who sit, lie or sleep in public areas were
taking up space and that they should not loiter in Westwood
Village.
Anteneh Girma, assistant manager of Westwood Copies, said his
store commonly has homeless individuals very near.
“There are people who sleep there when we close our store,
and when we open, they leave,” Girma said.
Though they may frequent the sidewalk nearby, he said he did not
see how the ruling could be relevant to the store, as the issue of
homeless individuals loitering was not a huge concern.
“They don’t bother us, we don’t bother
them,” he said.
While many businesspeople in the Village may disagree on whether
homeless people should be allowed to sleep and sit on sidewalks, at
least one wants to find a solution.
Fred Silvers, manager of Bel Air Camera, said the government
should intervene to alleviate the homeless situation.
The homeless population in Los Angeles County can reach up to
80,000 on a given day, according to an August 2004 study conducted
by the Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the
Weingart Center.
“The federal government should take charge,” Silvers
said. “Let’s set up communities for these
people.”
While he supported finding a solution, he added that
“it’s very sad that we are in a predicament in society
where … we can’t help them.”
About 25 percent of homeless adults in Los Angeles County suffer
from mental illness, and veterans make up 14 percent to 20 percent
of the total, according to the Weingart study.
And while many businesspeople may not appreciate the homeless
presence in Westwood, Silvers said there is a need for a plan to
fix the situation.
“Where are we going to put them?” he said.
“It’s easy to say what we don’t want, but what is
the solution?”