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# Letter: Criticizing Kevin McKeown's handling of homelessness in Santa Monica
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/110606-story/
- Published: 2006-11-06T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T22:02:49.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness

*By Jon Berg Santa Monica*

Kevin McKeown, social engineer extraordinaire: I regret to inform you that 1968 is 38 years in the past; it is now time for you to go. Pack your bags. The Greyhound is about to depart. Berkeley, San Francisco, Chico, Santa Cruz, Austin, Madison, Cambridge... perhaps the politically correct bastions of Asheville or Iowa City, all eagerly await your sorry resume.

The institutionalization of homelessness and vagrancy in Santa Monica under your watch will no longer be tolerated by the citizenry.May the “reasonable man,” common sense approach of the hotels and the Chamber of Commerce win on Nov. 7\. Dude, you’re so outta here.

My blood boils, as does that of my fellow Santa Monicans, when I read about terrorized librarians, tourists, grandmothers at Sav-On on Lincoln (Boulevard), dangerous bluff fires, police blotters filled with the word “transient,”homeless “czars”making six figures, lawn feedings, derelict-filled parks, and spiffy $7 million homeless shelters on Cloverfield Boulevard.

Solving homelessness is a national issue; it is not Santa Monica’s sole holy crusade, guilt burden and duty. The welcome mat you have chosen to extend to the vagrants of the continent does not represent the feelings of the people you have been elected to serve.

It might surprise you to learn that I even tend to think of myself as a Democrat, and that I lean toward the liberal direction on many issues, and that I didn’t vote for George Bush. Actually, I don’t necessarily even disagree with some of your environmental/development positions. But I simply cannot forgive you for the way you’ve mugged Santa Monica with your personal homelessness agenda, forced down the throats of constituents for many years.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 6, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/110606.pdf?ref=smdp.com)