David’s picture was in a local newspaper a couple of weeks ago. He was holding a handmade sign on the Third Street Promenade: “Need to get Stoned. Please Help.”
Maybe he was the guy who shouted to me, “Give me money, I want to get f****d up,” the last time I was there in early December.
There’s a big problem downtown with those like David, as well as with the mentally ill, the screamers, trashcan-rooting vagrants, drunks, dopers and social misfits. Adults and families with children are staying away in droves because they don’t like being panhandled, insulted and forced to be unwilling witnesses to bizarre and antisocial behavior, foul language or threats.
You’d think the board of directors of the Bayside District Corp., the non-profit, city-owned entity that oversees the downtown area, would understand this and take positive steps to solve problems. Nawww. They’re too preoccupied with appearing “compassionate.”
Last July, Bayside’s board sent a request to the City Council requesting an increase in homeless services spending.
However, its mission is to encourage shopping, dining, entertaining and conducting business in a safe and pleasant environment — not advocate for the homeless.
A couple of weeks ago, the Bayside board voted to send another request to City Council once again requesting an increase in homeless services expenditures. Apparently, board members are under the impression that additional funding will get more people off the street.
Buzzzz. Wrong. Not so. Santa Monica has spent nearly a $100 million on homeless services over the last two decades. Year after year, the numbers of homeless increase while the number of people benefiting from services goes down. So how can anyone (except service providers) say with a straight face that spending more money means less people on the streets?
Each of the 11 Bayside directors are appointed by the City Council. They are a mix of property owners/managers, two restaurant owners, an entertainment attorney, a businesswomen, a representative from Macerich (owner of Santa Monica Place), a planner for a developer, the co-chair of Santa Monicans for Renters Rights and a downtown resident.
Bayside’s annual budget is $905,200, of which $608,000 is a direct city subsidy and $185,000 is raised from a special assessment collected from downtown businesses. Other income comes from film permits and miscellaneous sources.
Personnel expenses are $388,944 including executive director Kathleen Rawson’s nearly $100,000 annual salary. Administrative expenses, including rent, phone and office supplies, is about $162,790. Consultants cost $35,000, monthly newsletters cost $78,500 and $95,000 goes for holiday promotions excluding decorations and other miscellaneous items.
Bad decision-making seems to be a Bayside forte.
Bayside’s annual holiday decorations (last year’s plastic icebergs cost $450,000) are usually subject to a great deal of criticism and derision.
In August of 2001, Bayside’s board proposed that downtown restaurants with under 100 seats should be able to obtain alcohol use permits administratively, excluding public input — a bad idea in an area with an over-concentration of alcohol licensees.
The clutter of swap-meet merchandise carts and mobs of overly-loud entertainers using amplified sound systems contributes to a honky-tonk atmosphere that attracts kids and alienates big spenders.
Last month, the Bayside board voted to ask the City Council to bring henna tattooists back to the Promenade — a move that will further contribute to the cheap carnival atmosphere and emasculate the last semblance of charm, class or style.
The entire area has developed a gray patina that has apparently escaped the notice of those who are supposed to be responsible for an attractive entertainment and shopping destination.
The Bayside board has done little to mitigate the filthy, smelly alleys leading from the parking garages. Garbage stewing in alley dumpsters on hot, summer afternoons is particularly gross.
Then there’s the pervasive smell of human waste from the vagrants residing downtown and who the Bayside wants to ply with even more services.
The latest request to increase homeless services spending spearheaded by Bayside board chairman John Warfel and director Rob Rader is another in a series of boneheaded missteps. They should both resign and join the Social Services Commission where altruism is more appropriate.
Then maybe the city should take Bayside’s concern literally. The city’s $608,000 subsidy could be used for homeless services. Better yet, give it to our schools.
And, the city could disband the Bayside all together and reallocate merchant assessments to the Visitors and Convention Bureau or Chamber of Commerce.
Things couldn’t get any worse. And look at the money we’d save. (Bill Bauer is a longtime Santa Monica resident and freelance writer.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 21, 2003. Read the original PDF.