West Hollywood Food Coalition Under Assault by City, Cops, Big Real Estate Corporations

Class War Rages in Hollywood

The class war is intensifying in Hollywood, as it is nation-wide.  With millions of foreclosures each year, more and more people are being put on the street.  Combined with the exporting of good jobs to China, it’s hard for many to survive on the minimum wage jobs that still exist, and especially since a lot of these are part-time jobs.  Paying rent of $800 or more for a single apartment on a part-time minimum wage job is tough.  More people than ever are living in their vehicles or on the street.  One reason a lot of homeless go to Hollywood to “live” is that the image-myth of Hollywood attracts thousands of tourists from around the world, making pan-handling easier there than say, Pacoima or Long Beach.

But Hollywood continues to have a massive development scheme.  Big buildings, condos, and towers continue to be built.  Billions of dollars are pouring into the area’s real estate.  And if there is one thing the real estate moguls don’t like to see, it’s homeless people.  “It’s bad for business.”  It gives the lie to the image of growth and success that the moguls are trying to polish up. If they don’t keep up the “Rah Rah” then their buildings may end up vacant. Although the breaking point of rents is fast approaching, the big investors who now own so much of Hollywood’s commercial and office buildings, seem to be oblivious to the further eroding of the economy.  So the word is out: Get rid of the homeless.  Push them out to somewhere else.  Anywhere but Hollywood.

A Lesson From The History Books

One way is to take a lesson from the history books.  When the American Imperial expansion was in full swing, the main obstacle was the Native American tribes, who had been residents of the land,  now called “The United States of America”, for thousands of years.  Solution: kill off the buffalo, food supply for the Natives.  This ultimately weakened many tribes into submission and made them dependent on food from the government.  This same tactic is now being pushed in the Hollywood area.  Cut off the food supply, harass them at every turn, arrest them, push them out.  This combined assault by the City of Los Angeles and it’s big business backers is now threatening the 27 year old Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition (GWHFC).

The GWHFC has fed about 200-300 folks a night for 27 years.  Operating on the corner of Sycamore and Romaine in Hollywood, help is there with a hot meal and often with volunteers who help the seniors and homeless with issues like health, legal problems, and psychological counseling.  Now comes the class war:  the Health Department demanded that all the tables and chairs be removed from the sidewalks; microscopic inspection of the food prep building; citations for anything imaginable; cops trolling the food lines trying to find homeless who have warrants outstanding; cops and B.I.D. police hanging around looking to cite anyone.  If you ever wanted to know what it was like to eat a meal in a Nazi food distribution during WW2 (if there even was one), then this is it.  Even during the great depression, big mobsters like Al Capone set up food kitchens in Chicago and fed thousands on the streets.  The politicians of today aren’t even as nice as the 30’s mobsters.  They hate the thought of feeding anyone, other than their honorable selves, of course.

Homeless Treated Worse Than Animals by Cops, City Politicos

If you are a senior or homeless and would like a free hot meal at the GWHFC nightly food distro, get ready to be treated like a dog.  Not by the good folks at the Food Coalition, who are trying to cope with this attack, but by a heartless, cruel City and their squadrons of Cops.  There are no tables to sit down and enjoy a meal.  You have to sit on the ground.  There’s no place to wash your hands, no bathrooms or porta-poties. Men, women, and children grovel on the ground for their gruel because the Food Coalition can no longer put out chairs and tables.

Americans, Unlike Other Humans, Do Not Ever Have To Go To The Toilet – An Entire Nation of Anal Retentives

Business people and some residents complain about the damage done or the annoyance in the neighborhood.  “I saw a homeless guy pissing on a tree.”  What do you expect?  There’s no bathrooms in the area and a lot of Hollywood businesses and restaurants try to keep them out of their bathrooms.  If the City can’t provide some free bathrooms, then you get what you deserve.  An outsider or visitor from another planet would notice right away that Americans never go to the bathroom.  These places, if they exist at all, are hidden away in secret corners, even in Shopping Malls.  Contrast this with Europe.  Go to London or Paris.  Bathrooms everywhere. In London the “Water Closets” are manned by old pensioners who exist on tips.  They work shifts and keep the places clean.  Think of all the seniors here in Hollywood.  A lot of them would like a job like that, just as soon as America joins the rest of the civilized world.  Meanwhile, it’s “piss-o-rama” on the back streets of Hollywood and will continue to be until the City of L.A. and the Hollywood business people wake up to THEIR responsibility to provide bathrooms FOR EVERYONE. (Hey, even the beloved tourists have to “go”)  And they could also find a suitable building in the area of Romaine and Sycamore and let the good folks at the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition go about their humane efforts to feed the hungry.  It is a responsibility for everyone to pitch in and help.  So to the Hollywood Fat Cats and Moguls: call off the Cops and sour-faced bureaucrats and lend a hand in finding a solution. Make the world a better place by becoming anal-expulsive.

Hidden Camera Shows Cops Lining Up Homeless “Suspects” at Sycamore and Romaine