What Should Mt. Washington do About the Rest Stop Bench on Sea View Trail?

Just about everyone who regularly walks along the scenic Sea View Trail at the end of Sea View Avenue in Mount Washington has heard about the missing bench, one of seven rest stop benches installed in the area in 2007 under a Community Beautification Grant.

In October 2012, one of the two metal benches on the trail disappeared—and rumors have abounded since then as to what happened to it. Some say that the bench, which was partially hidden by undulating land on the side of the trail overlooking the valley, was stolen. Others believe the bench was pushed down the hill by miscreants who unbolted it from its foundations.

Sea View Avenue resident Jerry Schneider is one of the few Mt. Washingtonians who knows what happened to the bench—he was part of the team that installed the bench in 2007—but even he doesn’t have all the details.

According to Schneider, the bench was uprooted from its concrete foundation and somehow transported to Moon Canyon Park, alongside San Rafael Avenue, where an earlier bench was stolen in May 2012. “An examination of the site indicated that the bolts had been sheared or twisted off,” say Schneider, adding that he was called to “check out this relocated bench.”

Fearing that whoever was responsible for moving the bench had left it there temporarily and might return to get it, Schneider chained the bench to another bench that was bolted to concrete footings at the same location. A week later, with the help of some labor and a tractor from the Self Realization Center, Schneider secured the transported bench to a concrete foundation about 30 yards from the other bench.

The uprooted bench has sat there since then, effectively replacing its stolen cousin.

Why anyone would go to such great lengths to haul a steel and cast-iron bench weighing several hundred pounds at least a mile away remains a mystery. One possibility: Somebody didn’t like the fact that the bench was used by vagrants and youth who drank and smoked (tobacco as well as pot) there, often late into the night, disturbing the peace and leaving trash, including beer cans and bottles, littered around.

Meanwhile, the only other remaining bench on Sea View Trail has been the focus of some controversy lately, given that it has become a magnet for people who smoke and drink. And the matter is coming to a head tonight at the Mt. Washington Local Issues Committee Meeting, where Schneider will preside over a discussion about the Sea View Trail bench and suggest possible solutions to the problem of smoking and drinking there.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Carlin G. Smith Recreation Center, 511 W. Ave 46.

A related item on tonight’s agenda includes a presentation by Los Angeles Police Department Senior Lead Officer Nina Precidao on the “squatter situation” at 4713 Jessica Dr.