LOS ANGELES—The signatures collected by the recall campaign against Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin, whose district includes Venice Beach and West Los Angeles, are expected to be verified on Jan. 18. Venice Beach residents Nico Ruderman and Katrina Schmitt initiated the recall campaign in June and submitted 39,188 signatures—well over 27,400, the number required to trigger a recall election—on Nov. 10. Bonin was elected to District 11’s council seat in 2014 and reelected in 2017 by winning 71 percent of the vote. During his election campaign, Bonin promised to address crime, safety, and homelessness in the district. However, Recall Bonin 2021’s website claims Bonin failed to address these issues as homelessness and crime have been growing in the area. In 2020, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported more than 3,200 homeless people living on the streets in Bonin’s district—up from the previous year’s 2,339 unhoused. Bonin also vowed …