For now, here are the most recent things the residents of El Camino Village has faced
- Unenforced Laws
One of the most controversial issues facing our city is that of fireworks. All fireworks, even "safe and sane," are illegal in the city of Los Angeles and likewise in the unincorporated area of El Camino Village. However, there are only two patrol cars designated to the entire population of 8,592. Further, at a recent community meeting, a representative of the LA police department said that shift changes meant that, at certain times of the day, a patrol car would be unavailable for one to two hours. This lack of police force has been cited as why the fireworks laws haven't been enforced as of late. LA police have made it clear that the laws won't be enforced and thus every summer the residents of El Camino Village face sporadic fireworks leading up the July 4th. Parties on the fourth have gotten more rowdy and people from other neighborhoods flock to ECV since it is known that the police will not do anything. Emergency calls go unanswered and police explain that it would be too dangerous to send their police into the area to enforce the laws.
Further, we have seen complete lack of service when government agencies are involved. The city voted to be permitted as it is located near a college that frequently suffers from lack of parking or students that don't want to pay for permits. However, parking enforcement rarely does their job when it comes to enforcing the permit laws. Parking enforcement comes out when the college sessions begin, but their service becomes sporadic thereafter. Abandoned vehicles? Cars parked in the middle of the street? People parking on their front lawns? Don't call parking enforcement on these issues, because you will be duly ignored. - Poor response times
Residents have faced 20 minute response times to 911 calls ranging from burglary calls to suspicious behavior. The police have regularly failed to take suspicious behavior calls and some of the calls have been flat out ignored. - Tree removals
Residents in ECV were contacted in 2012 and told that their trees would be removed. No reasons were given and when calls were placed to Robert Eisenhamer, who is listed as one of the go-to contacts, the response was vague. Apparently, some trees were deemed sickly, too large, or as destroying the sidewalks. Many people were very upset at the trees being removed from the neighborhood, however, Eisenhamer responded that he was told that tree removals were pushed by residents as something that was wanted. However, the residents of ECV have had no say or vote on the tree removals. - Waste Management decision
The city of El Camino Village had the choice of two trash providers. If you weren't happy with one, you could simply cancel your subscription and go to the other. However, the LA County Board of Supervisors decided that they would solicit proposals from trash providers to see who was interested in being the sole provider for select unincorporated areas. Waste Management won the bid for ECV. Since then, residents have faced a rates increase as well as poor service. Our trash pick-up day is Thursday, however, residents often have to leave their trash out on Thursdays and Fridays because it is either not picked up on Thursday or the job isn't completed on Thursday. Again, residents had no say in whether or not they could keep their existing trash contract or be forced to use Waste Management. - Lack of resident input
The tree removals and decision to turn our trash services into a monopoly were decisions made by the Board of Supervisors without the input of citizens which has been one of the biggest problems faced by residents of this city: decisions are constantly being made and we are not aware of them. ECV no longer has an active association so there is no longer a board that can sway decisions. Our representative, Mark Ridley-Thomas, consistently fails to show up to community meetings, instead he usually sends some representative. However, we have never had Ridley-Thomas seek our opinions on any matters regarding us. - Phone tag and general lack of service
During the tree removal, the go-to contacts given to residents usually ended in answering machines and zero call backs. Many times, when things go awry, residents face never ending bureaucracy to get to the heart of the matter. Because Mark Ridley-Thomas has failed on numerous occasions to be a voice of ECV, residents are faced to take care of problems on their own.
There was an instance a couple years back where residents were greeted with black water that smelled of sewage when they turned on their faucets. Several incidents like these occurred within a few months time span. When county workers responded to calls they simply said that there may be sentiment (i.e. dirt) in the water that came when workers were flushing the pipes. Despite the clear sewage smell, workers claimed the water was safe to drink. When murky samples were shown to workers, they continued to say that the water was safe to drink and that residents should simply turn on their faucets and wait for the water to run clear again. - Corruption and city inspections
For years, the city failed to inspect the area properly. As noted above, services were terrible and the bureaucracy failed to do its job. Residents would often hear that the very people that were failing them were ones who had won department awards (oops). City inspectors would cite some houses for specific offenses and infractions, but let other houses build the same offense with no citations. Then came a scandal that certain inspectors were taking bribes and now the county has cracked down on individuals in ECV. Put up a temporary garage in your driveway? Have any sort of attachment to a building but didn't get a permit? You'll get a threatening letter in the mail telling you to remove it or face fines. The laws should be enforced equally and at all times, not simply when the county decides to control our area to raise more taxes.
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