> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Being courageous means you need to take chances - URL: https://www.smdp.com/being-courageous-means-you-need-to-take-chances/ - Published: 2002-10-31T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:50:13.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless *By Michael J. Tittinger* So the Santa Monica City Council was-n’t able to prevent area banks from levying the universally-despised ATM fees, a charge (and in some cases “double charge”) vexing most Americans in recent years. At least they tried. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If we don’t continue to move forward (progress), do we not move backward (regress)? The city’s legislative body went out on a limb. They stepped up to the plate and took a cut at the high, hard one. If they had connected, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld council’s 1999 law banning the teller machine fees, it would have been a home run on par with Scott Spiezio’s three-run shot in the eighth inning of Game 6, which shifted the momentum of the World Series in the Anaheim Angels’ favor. Like a great baseball slugger on a team staring defeat in the eye, the city council took matters into its own hands. The city was the first in California to challenge the banking industry’s surcharges. Watching the people of Santa Monica — men and women, young and old, black and white — gather together last week to watch the Angels' unlikely ride to a World Series title, it was evident what type of community we have here. How many residents of Santa Monica, residents that typically stay here all of two years (on average), are taking chances in their lives right now? Be it jobs, careers, new locations, new loves, new ideas or chasing dreams, our city is one predicated on pursuing the seemingly lofty. It’s a major reason why many of us are here. Because most of us believe there is more to life than security, good benefits and weekend barbecues. So many of us are here pursuing something greater in our estimation. We are pushing the envelope, and we have a government and society that reflects that, be it through recycling and environmental efforts, the controversial living wage ordinance, harboring the homeless with empathy and compassion (for the most part) or attempting to rid the banks of their ATM charge rights. As a city, we are not content to follow, but insist on leading. We put the rest of the team on our collective shoulders, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. How many of us would have hooted and hollered had council been successful in their attempts to stymie banks from collecting on our own withdrawals? Santa Monica would have been the toast of the country, subconsciously thanked every time an American put plastic to automated teller, but recognition isn’t the right motivation. It’s about pushing the envelope in efforts to affect change — change for the better — and change does not come to fruition without risk. Someone along the line always has to put himself or herself out there, disregarding the notion or possibility that they might be the subject of much criticism and ire. According to Miguel de Cervantes, “They who lose today may win tomorrow.” Those who never try will never succeed. Those who never dream will never truly live. The crux of the argument before the three-judge panel had to do with whether or not federal banking regulations adopted by Congress protect the banking industry’s right to collect on ATM usage. The federal appeals court on Friday upheld an earlier judge’s ruling. Meanwhile, Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky contends the courts are wrong, that the National Banking Act does indeed allow for municipalities to regulate banking fees. It’s a case with widespread ramifications and could conceivably affect every card-carrying American with a bank account in time. It’s a case that could go as far as the United States Supreme Court. It’s a case that typifies the moxie and fighting spirit of Santa Monica. Councilman Kevin McKeown is arguing that it is time to call it quits, cut our losses, as it were, before the higher courts could require the city to compensate area banks for their legal fees in the event of a jurisprudence setback. McKeown’s attitude is defeatist. If the council can smell a hint of opportunity to win this case, it needs to follow through on the actions it took three years ago when it passed the ground-breaking law in the first place. Otherwise, what was the point? Someone, at some time, has to step up to the plate and take a cut. If not us, who? Mike Tittinger is a Santa Monica resident and freelance writer. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 31, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/103102.pdf?ref=smdp.com)