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# Final thoughts entered into the ‘Flora Files’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/final-thoughts-entered-into-the-flora-files/
- Published: 2004-04-20T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T23:54:35.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*THE FLORA FILES*

*By Todd Flora*

Friends, loyal readers and detractors, it has been an incredibly fun 17 months writing weekly for the Daily Press. From 2003’s “Think Twice,” which I co-wrote through the generosity of my friend Evelyn Jerome, to “The Flora Files” this year, I have enjoyed sharing some views with you on a variety of issues.

However, I don’t need to tell any of you that life can get a bit too busy at times. As much as possible, I like to be realistic and commit wholly to things. As such, this will serve as my final column. Perhaps you’ll see on occasional guest column from me. I encourage you to keep reading and writing to the editor about what you see on these pages. A strong democracy needs an active public dialogue, and I applaud the Daily Press and all of Santa Monica’s local papers for carrying news about our vibrant city.

The following are some big picture thoughts I want to leave you with as I enter my hiatus.

THE NATION This country must seriously ask itself how many chances it’s going to give the Bush family. Do these men and their ilk really deserve a third term in office? They can’t manage money or an economy, with deficits and our national debt once again threatening to hemorrhage the economy for future generations. They are obsessed with a foreign policy that is losing the U.S. respect overseas. We’re losing jobs and civil liberties at home. If the president’s rich friends aren’t destroying the environment through some form of polluter protection he’s arranged, they are screwing their employees by choosing lavish parties for executives over giving the working and middle class managers a decent raise. And the tone this president has set is leading to hung juries, not “tough on white collar crime” policies.

Aren’t you tired of feeling this way? There is a dirty film covering the entire country and it’s time to wash it off. And the only way to begin doing that is to rid this country of the person at the top of the pile who is creating this awful tone at home and abroad. There are no good wholesome values in anything George W. Bush is doing. As the bumper sticker says, “If you aren’t outraged, then you aren’t paying attention.”

THE STATE Sacramento is a cesspool, and much like Washington D.C. or LA City Hall, a place steeped in an isolated world of exaggerated self-importance. We send some great people to all of these centers of government, but the politics alone must change in order to change Sacramento.

There was too much campaign money floating around long before Gray Davis and our current governor made the chase for campaign cash an art form. It buys access, pure and simple. And uneven access to our leaders leads to public policy going one direction over another and completely shuts out those with the voices that have merit. There are several things about state government on which I could comment. But above all else, we need public financing of campaigns to change the profile of who gets elected,and in other cases the way they can govern. We need to take away our legislators’ need to spend half of their time raising money so that they may govern with the conscience that led them to public service in the first place.

OUR CITY It is ridiculous for anyone who writes on these pages to claim one group, elected official, the homeless or anyone else alone is responsible for all of Santa Monica’s problems. We need a little more civility and a little more bridge building. There is too much vitriol and it all seems too personal.

Santa Monica is a wonderful place and should hardly be the political tinderbox it seems. Yes, there are competing visions for this city, and I more than understand that at the end of the day we have to choose our team. But we can and must find areas of agreement without polarizing ourselves so much, without wearing our primary colors so brightly that they cannot be blended for the sake of some common ground when possible.

Thank you, readers. All my best to you.

To comment or to keep in touch with Todd, e-mail him at:

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 20, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042004.pdf?ref=smdp.com)