I’m a 59 years old Photographer / Artist, and last year I got screwed in a business deal by a 1%er and ended up having to move out of my live /work photography studio. Unfortunately the situation left me homeless and living in my car with my 2 dogs, and I’ve been pretty damn miserable trying to get out of this position ever since. And to top bad with worse , over the last several months, the header in my car has cracked because the radiator was leaking like a screen door, and now it’s letting water directly into the oil block, which is really a death warrant for the car according to my mechanic. And that is the main reason I have not been able to and won’t be able to resister the car. I’ve been parked at the Palms Park / Rancho Library so I can use the library during the day and try to get work, and so I have the park here for my two dogs and I can get them out of the car every hour or so. I grew up just blocks from here and have been coming to this park literally since I was a kid.
So let me ask the Park Rangers a few questions… Why is it when the Mayor of LA and all officials in LA are actually trying to help homeless people like me get out of the terrible situations we all unfortunately find ourselves in, please tell me why are your compassionless Rangers are doing the exact opposite and making situation even worse? Why are your Park Rangers treating the homeless like criminals for being stuck in this position? Because that is what I felt like yesterday when one of the Rangers treated me as if I was there maliciously. Why are the Park Rangers making it even harder for people like me to just survive and get through this? I think this is really despicable! The LAPD and the Sherriff’s Department have been to the park dozens of times each looked at my license and registration and they flat out told me despite my expired registration, they are not going to make my situation worse for me as the Park Rangers want to do, and they were not going to tow my car away. So why are the Park Rangers threatening to do so? Other then my car taking up one space, I strive to be inconspicuous. And this is a Park! I have heard the Mayor’s office mention Parks as if they were safe for the homeless. And I’m not pitching a tent, or spreading myself out conspicuously. I’m just parked there. And unfortunately stuck there while I try to make enough cash to get another car. Have you LA Park Rangers no conscience or compassion? Are you that out of step with how the other Los Angeles agencies are dealing with this crisis? This just isn’t right! I’m trying my best to get out of this and you people are literally kicking me in the ass and destroying that effort! And I think that is despicable too!

Everyday I am in the library working. That has become my office until I can get out of this situation. I also just finished authoring a 130 page law suit against the people that left me in this position. I couldn’t have done that without the Library. And everyone else involved, all the administrators with this library and park have been bending over backward to be helpful. Bringing me food for my dogs. So why aren’t the Park Rangers helpful and in fact are instead unhelpful? Why is it the Park Ranger’s policy to make things worse for the homeless? Late yesterday two Ranger cars pulled up around me and made me feel like a criminal for not having current tags on my car and being Parked in their lot. And then, not only wrote me a parking ticket, but gave me a ticket I have to go to court on. And I’m still not quite sure why! And then also gave me 72 hours to get my car out of their parking lot, making me feel like I was some kind of parasite invading their precious Park! Why is this the Park Ranger’s policy on how to treat the homeless? All you have done is severely complicated my situation and done so totally unnecessarily. How does that help people in my situation? Or is it your policy to just Not Give a Damn? Because the Ranger that confronted me, really didn’t seem to give a damn about my situation and was pretty much a cold fish. Is it the Park Rangers policy to just not care? Because it sure seemed that way to me.
I would tell you how many times I have cried at night because I could see how miserable my dogs are, let alone how miserable I am, but considering the compassionless attitude I felt from your officers, I’m sure that is something else your agency doesn’t care to hear about either.

I really don’t know what I’m going to do. I wish the car was running, but it’s not. I’m am trying everyday to turn this around and now you are putting me in a position that is just going to put me and my 2 dogs on the street. Why? Because I’ve been parked here more than 72 hours? Why aren’t the Park Rangers in line with the rest of Los Angeles who are making an effort to help the homeless, not make our situation even worse? Maybe we need the City Council to take a look at this situation and make some consistent policy changes. But for now that doesn’t help me. I can’t park it on the street or the car will be towed because of the expired tags, nor can I or would I just leave my dogs in the car and go spend the day trying to get work. At least at this park, I am close to the car and can get my dogs out every hour or so. If I had to be stuck somewhere, this was at least a good spot for me because I could still help myself by trying to get work. But now I don’t know how I’m going to do that either. I hate this situation and I was working every day trying to get myself out of this! And now, I don’t know what I’m going to do.

Why is this such an inconsistency? If the LA Police and the LA Sherriff’s department get it, why don’t the Park Rangers get it? How can your Park Rangers do this to homeless people without any ethical conscience or even blinking an eye? Because now I only have 72 hours to try and figure out what I’m going to do and myself and my dogs are going to survive, let alone get any work without the help of this Library.

If Los Angeles policy is to help the homeless, when are the Park Rangers going to get in line with everyone else?

City of Los Angeles Park Rangers
4730 Crystal Springs Dr
Griffith Park, CA 90027
323-644-6661
RapRangerCommunications@lacity.org

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Mayor Eric Garcetti
City of Los Angeles
200 N. Spring St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90012
+1-213-978-0600
mayor.garcetti@lacity.org