Column: CD-11 Candidates Darling & Good Equal an Even More Dangerous Path on Homelessness Than Mike Bonin!

By Nick Antonicello

Just when you thought things could get better, two Mike Bonin “clones” in CD-11 council hopefuls Erin Darling and Greg Good pose an even more dangerous path than a third-term of Mike Bonin!

Anointed by the LA Times in a recent and quite delusional endorsement and then enthusiastically accepting the support of the flawed and failed Mike Bonin himself, Erin Darling as well as City Hall Insider Greg Good present to voters in effect a Mike Bonin third-term as both of them are almost identical in the failed and miserable record of the outgoing incumbent. 

The LA Times, in their abject disdain and hate of normal working class and middle class homeowners and tenants describes local Venetians as people who live in “multi-million dollar houses have complained bitterly about sprawling encampments.” 

Do the “soothsayers” at the LA Times Editorial Board know of any home in Los Angeles that isn’t a million dollars? 

Let me know. 

That would be news worth sharing!

Maybe the scribes at the LA Times should read their own Saturday Real Estate Guide that for the most part you can’t touch a property in LA for less than two million dollars and this notion that Venice is infested with “angry millionaires” who hate the homeless is more of the “NIMBY narrative” of the outgoing Bonin, who like Greg Good and Erin Darling are millionaires too!

Three millionaires all pushing the wrong political potion of failure. 

The LA Times describes the recall of Mike Bonin as infuriating some of his constituents when in reality the truth is the opposite as the condescending Bonin refused to listen or respond to the needs of the district for so long, that some 25,000 CD-11 registered voters, or 95% of the number needed to place the question on the ballot is what forced Bonin into political irrelevance and extinction!

And if the LA Times even bothered to objectively cover the recall in a responsible and unbiased fashion, it wasn’t some phantom mental illness affliction that drove Bonin from the race, but rather miserable polling data that not only said he could not win, but would have been crushed for reelection in a loss so embarrassing he had no choice but to leave the race with his political tail between his legs!

The word was obvious, Bonin was political toast and even Greg Good was shopping his candidacy to the numerous unions for support he was seeking to replace Mike as the official, Bonin 2.0 replacement! Apparently he saw the hand-writing on the wall which apparently even infuriated Bonin before officially retiring from office!

Incredibly so, the LA Times believes both Darling & Good seem “the smartest on homelessness” when in fact they both have “carbon copy” records of this failed incumbent and neither has ever criticized or opposed any of the Bonin agenda over the last decade!

Not once have either Good or Darling been mildly critical or even dared to offer any suggestions on the homeless debacle here in Venice. 

Not once. 

Not ever. 

In fact Darling, who served on the local Venice Neighborhood Council quickly resigned from office under the threat of being booted off the board in 2017, his only meaningful public service to date. 

In fact Darling didn’t bother to show-up for his elected responsibilities for five consecutive meetings, a clear violation of the Board’s BY-LAWS and Standing Rules. 

How do you pretend to care about Venice when you can’t even make the time to show-up for a position you actively sought? 

Instead of owning up to his own chronic absenteeism and non-participation, in “Nixon-like” rhetoric Darling railed on a “disdain for immigrants and Muslims,” and tried to change the narrative from his own inability to serve to some manufactured notion that he was somehow being excluded! 

And as if this “rambling rhetoric” from a guy who just wouldn’t attend meetings wasn’t enough, Darling continues this misguided and failed following of the Bonin agenda that is opposed almost universally here in Venice as well as the rest of CD-11 because it does not work!

Like Good, he stays away from the disgrace that is Centennial Park, just like his ally Bonin who believes we should continue to stay the course as it applies to rampant homelessness and rising crime. 

Where hundreds roam and dwell in feces and urine, in makeshift structures and tents cluttered by stolen bicycles and now a haven for open drug use on a daily basis, the actual residents along South Venice Boulevard are literally held hostage in their own homes and a stated gang presence is now obvious. 

For Greg Good, the former $250,000 a year mayoral aide and board member of the LA Department of Public Works was a 100% Bonin ally when he worked for Eric Garcetti and was seen canvassing door to door for the very policies he now claims to oppose. 

I know it because I saw it. 

Good was there in Venice touting Bridge Housing with both Garcetti and Bonin backstage at the infamous Venice Town Hall which was nothing more than a rigged game and stacked deck that saw bureaucrats like Good strategize the messaging and outright lies and falsehoods that promised a bridge housing facility that would be secure and safe. 

I know this because I was there and saw it with my own eyes. 

Good is so bad on homelessness that his campaign is desperately pivoting away from the only issue that matters, especially in Venice where his positions are more of the same, all wrong all of the time! 

For like Erin Darling, Greg Good is an ambitious millionaire who will say or do anything to hold elective office no matter how dangerous their collective policies are to longtime Venetians or anyone else who believes that right is still right, and wrong is just wrong!

The narrative is obvious, demonize those of us who actually live here as “segregationists” and alike and totally ignore the impact on the quality-of-life of average people who simply want a safe place to live. A library that can be visited without fear of being accosted or robbed. Residents who want to be able to walk the streets and bring their children to the park or beach without the consequence of being attacked by those who have no business in Venice which is the drug-addicted, raging alcoholic, criminal transient population that has no connection or reason to be in Venice accept for the fact we have local elected leadership that hates those who play by the rules and believes those who are criminally insane should be embraced by the neighborhood no matter how dangerous or destructive!

Greg Good and Erin Darling believe things are just fine with Mike Bonin still pulling the strings where he appears to be out of sight and now out-of-mind. 

“Pay no mind to that man behind the curtain.” 

For there is nothing powerful about Mike Bonin and his puppets Erin Darling and Greg Good. 

Nick Antonicello is a longtime Venetian who serves on the Outreach and Oceanfront Walk Committee’s on the Venice Neighborhood Council and is covering the CD-11 race to succeed Bonin on the LA City Council. He can be reached at nantoni@mindspring.com

Do you have an opinion article you would like published? Email Sam Catanzaro, Mirror Media Group Executive Editor at sam@mirrormediagroupla.com for more information.

in Opinion
Related Posts

New Program Can Help Protect Southern California Homes in the Event of an Earthquake

May 13, 2023

May 13, 2023

Residents Have Until May 31 To Apply For Seismic Retrofit Grants By Janiele Maffei, Chief Mitigation Officer for the California...

Column: Tired OF Declinists? Some Enduring New California Positives

April 18, 2023

April 18, 2023

By Thomas D. Elias California has taken a beating lately, with (mostly Republican) governors of other states blasting many aspects...

Column: SB 9 Ended R-1 Zoning, but It’s Not Meeting Goals

March 11, 2023

March 11, 2023

By Tom Elias More than a year after it took effect, the landmark housing density law known as SB 9...

Column: The Inevitable Conversions Begin Multiplying

February 25, 2023

February 25, 2023

By Tom Elias It’s a phenomenon from New York to Dallas to Fresno and Los Angeles, one that seemed inevitable...

Column: The Fantasy World of California Housing Policy

February 20, 2023

February 20, 2023

By Tom Elias If you’re looking for sure things among bills under consideration in the state Legislature, think of one...

Column: State Usurping Key Powers From Cities

January 28, 2023

January 28, 2023

By Tom Elias All over California last fall, hundreds of the civic minded spent thousands of hours and millions of...

Column – A California Positive: Kids Swarm Extra Classes

January 24, 2023

January 24, 2023

By Tom Elias It’s become a cliché, the shibboleth that California has lousy public schools and most of the kids...

​​Column: No One Very Pleased as New Rooftop Solar Rules Improve

December 9, 2022

December 9, 2022

By Tom Elias, Columnist Only rarely does the California Public Utilities Commission, long known as the least responsive agency in...

Column: Will New Political Players Offer More Effective Local Government for Los Angeles & Venice?

December 5, 2022

December 5, 2022

Bass, Park could become unlikely allies in fighting homelessness, rising crime and the quality-of-life issues that plague both Angelenos and...

Column – Gas Gougers Beware: California Is Onto You at Last

November 11, 2022

November 11, 2022

By Tom Elias It has taken more than 50 years of on-and-off gasoline price gouging, but at long last California...

$87,581,047.01: Candidate Rick Caruso on Pace to Smash All Spending Records in His Bid to Become Mayor of Los Angeles

November 4, 2022

November 4, 2022

Caruso overwhelming Bass nearly 10-1! By Nick Antonicello According to the LA Ethics Commission as of October 31st, billionaire developer...

“Ten Takes” to Watch as CD-11 Hopefuls Park & Darling Close out the Campaign in a Mad Dash to the Finish Line!

November 4, 2022

November 4, 2022

By Nick Antonicello And after some sixteen months of posturing, positioning and intensive campaigning be it door to door, shaking...

Column: Who’s the ‘True’ Democrat in CD-11?

October 30, 2022

October 30, 2022

So who is the true Democrat in this race to succeed Mike Bonin in CD-11? While the campaign for city...

Column: Tenant Support Could Tip the Political Scales in CD-11 Council Race

October 29, 2022

October 29, 2022

Darling pushes advocacy of renter’s rights over Park in tightly contested battle to succeed Mike Bonin! By Nick Antonicello In...

Column: Money & Messaging That Is Persuasive and Memorable May Just Make Rick Caruso Our Next Mayor!

October 25, 2022

October 25, 2022

Moving away from direct mail, Caruso saturates broadcast television with a more disciplined message that is resonating with an angry...