By Mark Sanderson Santa Monica
I’m responding to Janet Phelan’s “From the Street” column (SMDP, March 2, page 5) how the homeless are “under attack by the government.” She writes that 140 homeless are fed a cooked pasta dish, with fruit and salad, etc. every Wednesday in Palisades Park. The “picnics” have been hosted by local businessman Paul Grymkowski for the past four years. Let’s not forget the City Council has passed a law banning feeding in parks yet Grymkowski says he will continue his program.
Palisades Park is yet another park ruined by this type of activity. Reed Park is a joke now. Early one Sunday morning, I visited a friend who lives across from Reed Park and we watched as a group of five “good-hearted” people passed out sack lunches to a line of about 30 homeless. Another man even passed out pairs of socks. My friend told them he’s tired of looking out his window and seeing the park filled with people sleeping, their sleeping bags, bedrolls and people’s worldly belongings. They looked at him like he was from Mars. How could he be so insensitive? Further discussion found that only one of the five actually lived in Santa Monica. It’s easy to help when the problem isn’t in your own backyard and you don’t have to face it every day with people going through your trash, urinating on the streets and other types of antisocial behavior. Feed people and they will come. Yes, they will come from all over the country as they do. I’ve been a lifelong resident of Santa Monica and the quality of life here has greatly diminished in the past decade.
The good old days are over. I found it hilarious that news of the council’s ordinance has traveled “as far as India where it was met with shock and disbelief.” Yes, Santa Monica is beginning to look like New Deli in that respect with homeless beggars on the streets.
The article goes on to say Mr. Grymkowski lives in Topanga Canyon. Exactly. If these “picnics” are for his “friends and family” as he says, then invite your “friends” up to your land in Topanga Canyon, not in our local park where our quality of life has been dramatically affected. Yes, there are folks who need help and they should receive that help, but there are others who live on the streets as a “lifestyle” choice. For those who make it a choice, it’s not this city’s responsibility to subsidize your actions. You don’t find this problem in West Los Angeles, Palms, Malibu, Culver City, or any other city nearby. We can’t legalize personal responsibility, but if people know they can come to Santa Monica and be taken care of by “good-hearted” people who don’t require them to start a path of recovery, then they will continue to come and live on the streets.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 3, 2004. Read the original PDF.