By Jaime S. Cruz Santa Monica
This letter is in response to the article entitled “Gang violence at the top of Genser’s agenda” (SMDP, Nov. 23, page 1). I am quite pleased that Mr. Genser has taken interest in our community.
Yet, as Mr. Genser prepares for a record fifth term as a member of the Santa Monica City Council, his priority of placing the Pico neighborhood issues on his agenda is long overdue. The issues he’d like to address should have been on top of his and his colleagues’ agenda at least 15 years ago when the number of Latino and African American residents was still at its peak. Instead, it takes nearly two decades and a record fifth term for a City Council member to put our neighborhood issues on the map.
In the meantime, other pertinent issues have now taken precedence. Since the racial demographics have shifted, so have the politics of the Pico neighborhood. For example, homes owned by Latinos and African Americans are being purchased by real estate boosters who offer homeowners lucrative prices and they have them razed for high-end luxury condominiums. Recently the Santa Monica Planning Commission met on Nov. 17 in which they approved the construction of a luxury condominium (a single family home once stood there) at 2212 Virginia Ave., in the heart of the Pico neighborhood.
Moreover, the process of the Latino and African American exodus from Santa Monica is a result of the ever-escalating rents and home prices. The abolishment of rent control continues to keep working class families from renting an apartment in Santa Monica. Furthermore, there is dire need for affordable housing throughout the city of Santa Monica. The lack of affordable housing in Santa Monica is an indicator of why the Latino and African American population has decreased.
Here’s a suggestion for the City Council: How about spearheading an effort to re-introduce rent control so that low-income families can also enjoy the “paradise by the sea?” Perhaps Mr. Genser and his colleagues can develop an innovative strategy to get the Pico neighborhood residents and city officials to see their commonalties rather than differences when discussing issues.
Finally, let us not forget that the Pico neighborhood has a long history of being a leader in accommodating the less fortunate. And the Pico neighborhood continues to have minimal representation in the city’s political realm. Of course, these are simplistic suggestions that Mr. Genser and the rest of the Santa Monica City Council members should address. Or maybe not?
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 2, 2004. Read the original PDF.