By Thom Trybus Santa Monica
There are still aspects of the homeless issues and the living wage arguments which have not been aired, and I am writing now as a homeless person on some of them. My intention is to inform, and to point out certain existing conditions of ignorance, discrimination, and prejudice. Perhaps to the level of actual persecution towards most homeless individuals. To begin with, few if any of those in the homeless community enjoy going to the bathroom outdoors. Especially so in inclimate weather. Given the access to decent facilities, we will use them. Whomever it was who "made the call" on closing the restrooms in the parking structures, simply because those who were responsible for cleaning and maintaining them weren't doing their jobs properly or at all, was simply wrong thinking. If that person envisioned doing so would help the situation, then that same person probably still believes in a flat earth... It’s on them. But much worse than this now exacerbated situation, i.e. the occasional (now forced) nature call outdoors by any particular homeless person, is the larger overall problem that this is related to. And that is the obvious “in your face” pollution if you will, created by dog owners. Yes, those who willfully, daily, (for how long now? Decades?) trash all of the beachfront from at least Santa Monica to Venice, (evidenced by all of the dwarfed and dying majestic palm trees for prime example) public “persons only” use areas, such as picnic grassed areas and children’s playgrounds, as well as the sand we all walk in and play on, and further... All up and down Main Street the dogs don’t miss a single telephone pole, fire hydrant, tree, bush, or flowerbed with their hundreds of daily doses of feces and urine, on everyone’s property but their own! In a word, it smells. With hundreds of dogs defecating and urinating all over these areas and more, this is a real health issue, and a major problem. It is not as low impact as an occasional squirt here and there discretely by a homeless person who has been denied a place to go.
It may be argued that dog owners routinely pick up after their pets dumping. Owners who regularly walk their pets so that they always dump on other people's property, or anywhere they please all over the city, and not their own... How nice of them! But realistically, there are a number of inconciderates among them who do not do so, defy all reasonable rules, and insist that their animals run “off leash” anywhere they please. Their “gifts” deposited everywhere most likely are interpreted by the untrained eye to be (Yes! You got it!) homeless droppings. And most important, none of them seemingly responsible or not, can claim that hundreds of doses a day of dog urine that is whizzed on the cities trees, private trees, the beach areas, and on private lawns, is not causing great damage. There has been little or no rainfall, there is no washing it all away from all the various places it is deposited. The trees are remarkably dwarfed compared to trees further inland which see little of the dense impact near the beaches. They are it appears in various stages of dying thanks to the dog owners. Nobody has done anything to clean up and prevent further such mass pollution to these areas, the sands of the beaches we and children enjoy and play in, or compel the dog owners to gather together, and collectively rent or buy their own parcels of land away from the beaches and Main Street, fully maintained at their own expense, for the purpose of exercising and providing a place for their animals to relieve themselves.
Perhaps if the city raised the dog license fees substantially as well, it could offset the tremendous cost of cleaning up after those who engage in such irresponsible behaviors. Finally, the living wage does nothing for the homeless. It helps only those few workers in industries and businesses that prejudicially, discriminate, and do not hire any blacks, whites, few Asians, and perhaps no Indians. Just look around at all the car washes, hotels, restaurants, fast food stands, and the city.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 9, 2002. Read the original PDF.