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# Dirty politics: residents want clean city
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/dirty-politics-residents-want-clean-city/
- Published: 2005-01-01T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:56:00.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Community, Pico, #archive-import, Homeless

This past week, Q-line asked: What should your elected leaders’ New Years Resolutions be for 2005?

Here are your responses: ✆ “Our elected officials should begin with cleaning up this filthy, dangerous city. Enforce the vagrancy laws. Stop all of the hand outs. Stop the overall permissive attitude to those vagrant, homeless, drunks and druggers flocking to this city. Then we can deal with traffic, parking, tourism, etc. Let’s get real. This out-of-control vagrancy is our major problem.” ✆ “The Santa Monica City Council can do very little regarding the plague of air pollution that inundates the city of Santa Monica on a daily basis. Santa Monica west is the end of the line for Pico, Olympic, Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards. These roadways dump thousands of automobiles on Santa Monica on a daily basis. These roadways are the main source of congestion and pollution in Santa Monica. Then add Pacific Coast Highway and the 10 Freeway. No wonder I’m dizzy all the time. Fortunately, we in Santa Monica have the wind that blows from the ocean from the west to the east, returning some of the smog from where it started. When Playa Vista opens into full swing, all of our hopes for clean air will be dashed, especially for those folks who reside on 11th Street as Playa Vista folks plod their way north to San Vicente Boulevard. The Santa Monica City Council’s resolution for the new year should be to fight pollution and congestion. No more high-rise buildings that invite traffic.” ✆ “The officials should resolve to resign unless they can do something about the bum problems and messing up the traffic. They should resolve not to mess up traffic...” ✆ “I just want to commend the SMDP for the fair, truthful coverage of the Fisher Lumber accident. And condemn the whiny, simplistic attitude expressed by Bill Bolte in his ridiculous letter in today’s paper (SMDP, Dec. 28, page 4). He is probably one of the halo polishing so-called do-gooders that help to proliferate this horrible chaotic, dangerous vagrancy problem in our community...” ✆ “Prioritize the needs is No. 1\. The number No. 1 need is to take care of the homeless problem which includes the drunks and the drug addicts. One way to do this is to utilize the drunk tank first and then transport those folks to the Veterans Administration for further treatment. One of the items that has been overlooked with regards to the homeless and drunks and the addicts in Santa Monica is the fact that many of them are veterans. Principally of the Vietnam War. I don’t see that many WWII vets wandering around our town or Korean War vets. It’s mostly the Vietnam War and these folks are getting SSI and free health accommodations from the Veterans Administration on Wilshire Boulevard in West LA. It should be where they can be treated properly and assisted in re-engaging into society.” ✆ “All of our leaders should resign. In this city we are punished for driving a car. We are punished by having to pay for wherever we park. The owners of apartment buildings are punished with rent control. We are all punished for paying for low-income housing. Everyone is punished with the bums. We are punished with these constant taxes for schools, and the library, civic center buildings. The hotels are punished with an increase in the hotel bed tax. We are punished with high density living, wall-to-wall apartments in this city. We are punished with a huge bureaucracy at City Hall — overpaid bureaucracy. Your question is incorrect. We have no leaders, just socialist comrades. We should send them all to Sweden.” ✆ “The continuing influx of vagrants and homeless into this city already overwhelmed has to stop. This is new year priority No. 1.” ✆ “Our elected leaders should do all they can to get the U.S.A. promptly out of President Bush’s war quagmire which affects Santa Monica in deaths, wounded and high taxes.” ✆ “Clean up this open air jail and insane asylum that this city has become.” ✆ “I want elected leaders to cut down on those people who smoke at bus stops. I mean, non-smokers shouldn’t have to put up with that. I’ve been cursed at and told I was stupid and everything else. They should do something about them.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 1, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/010105.pdf?ref=smdp.com)