✆ “I am homeless and because of Santa Monica’s bus company’s policy that lets us who got no money to have free use of public buses to get around, I am on the buses an awful lot. And I always hear bus drivers who say on the public address system, telling tourists not to waste their time at Santa Monica Place. Everyone in this city knows that this is a near useless and empty place to go because people don’t go there. So it is my suggestion that, as it occurs to me, that as a homeless man, for the city of Santa Monica to join LA County to buy this building so it can serve us homeless needs. Santa Monica Place can become central LA County headquarters for us homeless, for homeless services and a central homeless dormitory for us homeless brothers who are now being forced out of downtown Los Angeles by new-fangled Donald Trump types who want to sell $6 million condos there. By buying Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica can combine all homeless services and shelters and programs under one roof so us homeless will only have one place to go for whatever we want or whatever needs to be taken care of.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 11, 2004. Read the original PDF.